Credit Hour Policy

Policy #:                       S22-299

Supersedes:                  N/A 

Senate Approval:          02/15/2022 

Presidential Approval:    03/02/2022 

Effective:   Fall 2022

Last Review:                  N/A

Next Review:                 Fall 2026

Credit Hour Policy

Source Committee: Academic Policy Committee (APC)

Unit(s) Responsible for Implementation: Colleges, Academic Planning, Academic Resources: Division of Undergraduate Education and Academic Planning

Consultations:

History

Rationale

Change to the US Department of Education definition of the student credit hour on July 1, 2020, requires accrediting agencies to review an institution’s definition of a student credit hour and the processes and policies for ensuring the credit hour definition is applied. In response to this change, the WASC Senior College and University Commission updated their credit hour definition and accreditation review (see WASC Credit Hour Policy). The CSU instructed all campuses to develop, communicate and implement procedures to ensure accurate, reliable, and consistent application of the definition of the credit hour for all courses and programs (Memo dated December 21, 2020).

This document serves as the San Francisco State University policy on the credit hour. Definitions, calculations, and procedures are included.

Table of Contents

A.  Definitions and Calculations

B.  Compliance and Review Process Policy

All SFSU academic programs and courses, offered in any modality and at any level, are covered by this credit hour policy.

A.  Definitions and Calculations

1.  Credit Hour Definition: The SFSU definition of the credit hour aligns with the CSU (December 21, 2020 Memo), WSCUC (Credit Hour Policy), and federal law (600.2 and 600.4 revised July 1, 2020).

One credit hour is equal to not less than one hour of direct faculty instruction and a minimum of two hours of out-of-class student work each week for approximately 15 weeks of one semester or the equivalent amount of work over a different amount of time. One credit hour is defined to be a 50-minute period.

At least an equivalent amount of work is required for other academic activities, including laboratory work, activities, internships, practica, studio work, and other academic work leading to the award of credit hours.

2.  Direct faculty instruction is defined for in-person, synchronous online, and hybrid courses as the time spent in a classroom or laboratory or in a remotely scheduled meeting with the instructor. An equivalent amount of instructional time must be provided in asynchronous courses or for the asynchronous portion of a hybrid course to meet the total credit hour requirement for faculty instruction. Faculty engagement and student work in an asynchronous class should be equivalent to what students might expect in a traditional face-to-face course; faculty need to remain engaged and help facilitate student work in all online activities. In developing the course, faculty should seek guidance on equivalencies between credit hours of work in atraditional face-to-face course and an online course from the Center for Equity and Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CEETL).

3.  Out-of-class student work is defined as time spent preparing for a course, completing assignments for a course, and preparing for exams or other assessments.

4.  The CSU Academic Planning Database defines the hours of direct faculty instruction for different course classifications:

Credit Hour Calculations for Different Academic Activities (on average, per unit per week, over the course of the semester)

Likewise, supervision courses must satisfy the credit hour requirement of 150 minutes of total academic work (faculty instruction plus out-of-class work) per unit per week for 15 weeks or an equivalent amount of work over a different period of time.

B.  Compliance and Review Process

1.  Courses are scheduled in accordance with the time per unit of direct faculty instruction according to the course classification. For multi-component courses, each component must be scheduled to reflect the direct faculty instruction time associated with the course classification of each component.