Credit Hour Policy

Saint Elizabeth University follows the U.S. Department of Education definition of a credit hour as a measure of the amount of work represented in intended learning outcomes and verified by evidence of student achievement that is an institutionally established equivalency that reasonably approximates not less than:

"50 minutes* of classroom or direct faculty instruction each week for 15 weeks in one semester (or the equivalent attained by scheduling more minutes of instruction per week for fewer weeks in the semester) complemented by at least 100 minutes each week of laboratory or outside assignments (or the equivalent thereof for semesters of different length) OR at least an equivalent amount of work for courses with alternative formats including online, hybrid, internships, laboratories, studios, short-term study abroad courses, practicums, clinicals and tutorials.

In summary, ONE credit hour is awarded on the basis of one of three sets of criteria.

• For traditional in-class courses: The completion of one credit hour of classroom or direct faculty instruction and a minimum of two credit hours of out-of-class student work each week for one semester (15 weeks); or
• For online, hybrid, and accelerated courses: The completion of an equivalent amount of faculty instruction and student work, as stipulated above in criterion (1), that may occur over a different amount of time; or
• For other academic activities: The completion of an institutionally sanctioned academic activity (e.g., tutorial, externship, practicum, internship, independent study, studio work, laboratory work, fieldwork, and pre-dissertation/thesis work) that is equivalent to the amount of work stipulated in criterion (1), that may occur over a different amount of time.

Proposals for new courses are prepared by faculty and presented to the Academic Life Committee for review. The Committee determines if the proposed credit hour allotment aligns with the University's definition and with commonly accepted standards of higher education.

The University course syllabus template, used for all courses that are offered, requires faculty to delineate how each course meets the credit hour standards.

*This rule refers to a 50-minute "Carnegie hour" so the requirement is for 12.5 clock hours (750 minutes) of direct instruction or a total of 37.5 clock hours (2,250 minutes) of total student work for one semester credit. This policy conforms to the NJ Commission on Higher Education, U.S. Department of Education and Middle States Commission on Higher Education credit hour policies.