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Catalog 2024-2025 > Section VI: Policies, Procedures, and Guidelines > Institute Academic Policies > Definition of a Credit Hour

Definition of a Credit Hour

Curriculum and Credit Hour Policy

RATIONALE

The Institute offers this policy and related guidance on the assignment of credit hours for the purpose of measuring the amount of time a student (or other learner) spends actively engaged in learning time not only in traditional classroom or lecture settings, both in-person and online, but also in laboratories, research settings, internships, clinical and workplace-based learning, and other experiential learning. This policy and credit hour assignment guidance is also aligned with higher education standards to support the seamless transfer of coursework from one institution to another. The assignment of credit hours for the Institute to ensure compliance with regional accreditation standards through the New England Commissions of Higher Education and the assessment of student academic engagement by the federal government as a basis of awarding financial aid. As new instructional methodologies and technologies are integrated within Institute courses and programs, this policy will be reviewed and revised, as necessary, to ensure its accuracy and relevance to our educational endeavors. The determination and assignment of credit hours for Institute coursework is led by the faculty and faculty-led curriculum committees with oversight by the Office of Provost.  

DEFINITIONS

Credit Hour

According to the Department of Education and Title 34 C.F.R. §600.2, a credit hour is the amount of student work defined by an institution, as approved by the institution's accrediting agency or State approval agency, that is consistent with commonly accepted practice in postsecondary education. A credit hour must reasonably approximate not less than one hour of classroom or direct faculty instruction and a minimum of two hours of out-of-class student work each week for approximately fifteen weeks for one semester or trimester hour of credit, or the equivalent amount of work over a different period of time; or at least an equivalent amount of work for other academic activities as established by the institution, including laboratory work, internships, practicums, studio work, and other academic work leading to the award of credit hours. Further, 34 C.F.R. §600.2 permits the Institute, in determining the amount of work associated with a credit hour, to consider a variety of delivery methods, measurements of student work, academic calendars, disciplines, and degree levels.

 

The Institute engages in a variety of instructional approaches, including online and distance education. 34 C.F.R. §600.2 describes distance education as education that uses the internet, one-way or two-way transmissions, audio conference, or other media to deliver instruction to students who are separated from the instructor(s) and to support regular and substantive interaction between the students and the instructor(s), either synchronously or asynchronously. The Institute defines substantive interaction as the act of engaging with students in teaching, learning, supervised clinical practice, and assessment that includes at least two of the following: direct instruction, assessment or giving feedback on a learner’s coursework or performance; responding to questions or providing additional information related to course content, facilitating discussion or team-based practice relevant to course content, administering workplace-based learning activities relevant to course objectives or learning outcomes, and other instructional activities that are approved through the Institute’s curricular review and approval process and procedures.

 

The terms credit hour, semester credit hour, and trimester credit hour may be used interchangeably at the Institute. Credit hours are based on contact hours. The Institute defines contact hours as the amount of time a student has with an instructor, whether face-to-face or virtual. A traditional semester is defined by the Institute as 15 weeks of instruction and final examinations for fall and spring courses or 14 weeks of instruction and final examinations for summer courses. The Institute offers courses that vary in length and deviate from a traditional semester; and, further, courses delivered in shortened or lengthened semesters are expected to have equivalent contact hours and the same requirements for out-of-class learning as courses taught over the course of a traditional semester.

 

Online, distance education, and hybrid education courses are subject to the same credit hour requirements as face-to-face courses. A course that uses hybrid education is one that integrates online and/or distance education with face-to-face learning. The Institute also considers a diversity of instructional approaches and assessment modalities, and the Institute may apply standards that are drawn from best practices and/or guidance from an individual’s program’s specialty or programmatic accreditation authority in its determination of credit hours. For example, conventions for credit hour assignment for clinical rotations, workplace-based or other experiential learning and assessment may differ from the general guidance offered within this policy. To support the determination of credit hours, the Institute convenes a standing committee of faculty with relevant expertise to review, provide constructive feedback, and approve/deny course proposals, which includes providing recommendations to the Institute’s Registrar for the determination and validation of credit hour assignments.  

While the Institute endorses and adopts numerous models and frameworks for competency-based education and assessment across its courses and academic programs, it does not forgo its standards on contact hours in the determination of credit hours or student academic progress. Competency-based education as defined by “The Common Framework for Defining and Approving Competency-Based Education Programs” that was adopted by the Council of Regional Accrediting Commissions (C-RAC) is as an outcomes-based approach to earning a college degree or other credential.” The Institute does not waive its standards for credit hour determination or award academic credit on the basis described by the C-RAC or its “The Common Framework.” 

For the determination of credit hours, the Institute primarily considers the following activities related to teaching, learning, and learner assessment:

• Lecture
• Seminar
• Conference
• Practicum
• Internship
• Externship, rotation, or preceptorship
• Dissertation
• Community-based service learning
• Workplace-based learning or other experiential learning

PROCEDURE

COURSE DEVELOPMENT

In the development of a course for academic credit, developers and instructors must ensure that the quantity of student learning required per credit hour of coursework through activities that address and demonstrate student competency in the defined learning objectives or outcomes and conform to this policy and Institute guidance.

Course developers and instructors should base expected student learning outcomes and active engagement in coursework on documented qualitative and quantitative expectations for:

• Amount of time required of students to complete assigned learning activities, considerate of degree level, discipline, and weight in the final course grade;
• Amount of time required of students to read and understand content developed by course instructor(s);
• Time required of course instructor(s) to respond to student questions about course content (e.g., via email, in-person, discussion boards, etc.); and
• Time required of course faculty and students to participate in online conference activities.

 

Student learning outcome equivalencies reflect differences in delivery methods, quality of instruction and interaction, degree of supervision, measurements of student work, academic disciplines, academic calendars, and degree levels. Each course instructor and academic program director are responsible for demonstrating that contact hours and student engagement requirements are continually met for Institute coursework.

CREDIT HOUR BY COURSE

The Office of the Provost, through the Registrar, is responsible for determining the number of credit hours associated with Institute courses, applying this the policy and guidance. given the definitions above. The Registrar receives recommendations for credit hour assignments from the Institute’s faculty standing committee responsible for curriculum and course reviews and approvals that have also been reviewed and approved by the respective school dean. The Office of the Registrar advises against courses that allow variable credit hours (e.g., credit hours vary by student or by semester), as a general measure to support curricular consistency and fairness, although variable measures may be appropriate in certain situations (e.g., pre-college, workplace-based learning, or capstone courses)

AMOUNT AND LEVEL OF CREDIT

The amount and level of credit awarded for courses at the Institute is determined by the respective school dean in conjunction with the Registrar. The Institute uses established practices for awarding credit as specified by accreditation standards, rules, and/or policy guidance from sources such as the New England Commission of Higher Education, the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education, and various healthcare related specialty accreditation bodies. 

Each school is responsible for establishing formal processes and procedures for faculty review to ensure that the amount and level of credit awarded for coursework is consistent with the sound academic practice in the given discipline. This policy and guidance document serves to support faculty in this endeavor and promote consistency. As part of the review process, faculty must ensure that all online, distance, and hybrid education coursework have learning outcomes that are equivalent to the outcomes for the same or comparable courses delivered face-to-face. In the case of coursework that is offered outside of a school, the Office of the Provost will ensure peer review and the application of sound academic practices for the given discipline.

CREDIT HOURS REQUIRED TO GRADUATE

Each academic program requires a designated minimum number of hours to graduate. No student shall graduate without meeting this minimum as documented on the official transcript. For this reason, any credit gained through course substitutions, waivers or by challenge exams must be appropriately documented and communicated to the Office of the Registrar.

CONTACT TO CREDIT HOUR RATIOS

 

For Lectures and Conferences, 1 credit hour is generally equivalent to 15 contact hours across undergraduate and graduate courses. For Laboratory experiences, 1 credit hour is generally equivalent to 45 to 60 contact hours. For Seminars, 1 credit hour is generally equivalent to 15 to 30 contact hours. For Clinical, Pre-Clinical, and Practicum experiences, 1 credit hour is generally equivalent to 30 to 60 contact hours. This general guidance may vary by program and discipline, but variations may occur and must be clearly documented and justified to ensure fair and transparent credit hour assignments. For purposes of classroom management, 50 minutes of instruction is synonymous with a one-hour lecture.  

 

This Table provides additional guidance for calculating direct instruction and independent learning per credit hour for various types of courses, including traditional, online, hybrid, and accelerated courses. Faculty should also follow the following rules to ensure students meet minimum requirements of work per week outside of instruction time:

• Online and hybrid courses must meet the same credit hour requirements as face-to-face courses.
• Logging on to course designated pages within a learning management system constitutes neither active faculty instruction nor active student learning. Faculty must demonstrate active faculty engagement in online teaching/instruction. Methods such as discussion boards, chats, etc. can serve as instructional time.
• Other methods may include instructional how-to videos, small group activities, virtual labs, and required participation in live or online discussion.
• Instructors may also consider field experiences, educational events, projects, increased course content, research and information literacy, community-based service learning, civic engagement related to educational outcomes, individual or group conferences, oral presentations, and other appropriate and justifiable methodologies.
• Activities that are counted for credit must be required and structured. Examples of activities that do not count toward instructional time include readings, homework, and other intrinsic preparatory activities (e.g., practicing calculations).