Catalog Display
The college will display credit hour ratios in Course Descriptions in the Catalog in the following format: Lecture Hours – Studio/Lab Hours – Credits. A typical 3 credit lecture course will be notated as:
3 – 0 – 3
First digit represents weekly lecture hour.
1 credit = 1 lecture hour. In a full-term course, 1 lecture hour = 1 hour of class per week per and about 2 hours independent preparation time.
Second digit represents weekly lab or studio hour.
1 credit = 2-3 lab hours. In a full-term course, 1 lab hour = 1 hour of class per week and between 1-2 hours of independent preparation time.
1 credit = 1.67 studio hours. In a full-term course, 1 studio hour = 1 hour of class time and 1-2 hours of independent preparation time.
Weekly Class Hours (Contact Hours) – For in-person or synchronous courses, add the first two numbers together for total weekly class hours in a full term. Double that number to get the typical schedule for a 7A or 7B term.
Third digit represents credits.
To complete a typical 3 credit course in a full term, a student should expect to invest 9-10 total hours per week for a total of 135-150 hours per semester.
Ratio of supervised or scheduled class time and independent/preparatory time will vary depending on lecture/lab ratio, class modality and schedule.