Credit Hour Definition

LIM College adheres to the U.S. Department of Education’s definition of a credit hour as “… An 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 one hour of classroom or direct faculty instruction and a minimum of two hours of out-of-class student work for approximately fifteen weeks for one semester or trimester hour of credit …, or the equivalent amount of work over a different amount of time.”

One credit hour for cooperative work experience is the equivalent of 45-65 hours working at the internship site and 15-20 hours of related classroom, online, or independent work over the course of a semester or term. 

Hybrid and online courses have learning goals and rigor equivalent to those taught in the classroom. Contact hours are satisfied by using various course activities such as threaded discussions, journals, online seminars, interactive tutorials and online meetings. The syllabi for these courses are carefully reviewed by faculty and Department Chairs to ensure equivalency to face-to-face courses.

Learning outcomes must be appropriate to college-level work in the case of associate and bachelor’s degree programs and the equivalent of post-graduate work in the case of master’s degree programs and must be achievable in the prescribed timeframe.