Credit Hour Definition
Policy
Palm Beach State College has policies and procedures for determining credit hours to be awarded for courses. These policies and procedures are reflective of commonly accepted practices in higher education and are compliant with SACSCOC policy and State of Florida policy. Florida Administrative Code policy 6A.14.030, defines credit hours for various course types, and forms the basis for the College’s definitions and policy.
Definition
Palm Beach State College operates on a semester basis. Credit is a unit of measure assigned to courses or course equivalent learning. Credit is awarded if the learning activity it represents is part of, or preparatory for, an organized and specified program leading to a postsecondary certificate or degree. Credit is a device which indicates to the learner, to educational institutions, to employers, and to others how much of the program the learner has completed. The credit awarded may be independent of where the learning occurs. If a learning activity does not meet these requirements, credit shall not be awarded.
All credits are based on Carnegie Units, where 50 minutes of instruction is the accepted metric in accordance with commonly accepted practice in higher education, and comply with federal government regulations (34 CFR 600.2):
Except as provided in 34 CFR 668.8(k) and (l), a credit hour is 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 — (1) 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 ten to twelve weeks for one quarter hour of credit, or the equivalent amount of work over a different amount of time; or (2) At least an equivalent amount of work as required in paragraph (1) of this definition for other academic activities as established by the institution including laboratory work, internships, practica, studio work, and other academic work leading to the award of credit hours.
A clock hour is a period of time consisting of a period of time consisting of— (1) A 50- to 60-minute class, lecture, or recitation in a 60-minute period; (2) A 50- to 60-minute faculty-supervised laboratory, shop training or internship in a 60-minute period; or (3) Sixty minutes of preparation in a correspondence course.