Credit Hour Compliance Policy
PURPOSE:
NLU’s Credit Hour Compliance (CHC) ensures compliance with the federal definitions regarding the assignment of credit for all types of courses, disciplines, programs, credential levels, formats, regardless of modality, and reflects practices and expectations across academic units.
DEFINITIONS:
Credit Hour:
Federal definitions and regulations regarding the assignment of credit hours appear as follows under Section 600.2 and 600.24(f) of the Higher Education Opportunity Act:
Credit hour: 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—
- 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
- 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.
Direct instruction:
Any required activity completed by the student that is actively and intentionally facilitated by the instructor. The estimated time should be the average expectation of instruction/interaction spent per occurrence by the student.
Non-direct instruction:
Any activity required out-of-class or any in-class activity without direct instruction, in other words, activities students complete on their own. The estimated time is the total average amount of time-on-task for each non-direct instruction activity.
REQUIREMENTS:
Standard courses require one hour of direct instruction and a minimum of two hours of non-direct instruction for approximately fifteen weeks (for semester courses) or ten weeks (for quarter courses).
Non-standard courses require the instructional equivalent of 30 total hours per quarter credit hour and 45 total hours per semester credit hour. Student engagement in courses such as laboratories, studios, clinicals, practica, internships, and field experiences may include a combination of direct supervision, instruction, site-based activity, independent study, or reflection, or other methods of instruction.
Departments are responsible for ensuring that credit hour assignments are consistent across all delivery modalities and term lengths. Course content, learning outcomes, and academic rigor must be consistent with those of the full-term version of the course. Proposals for non-standard or accelerated courses must include a credit hour justification that demonstrates equivalency in total student learning time. For reference, equivalency tables will be kept in the CHC Guidance Document.
Awarding student credit:
|
Category
|
One (1) Quarter Hour
|
One (1) Semester Hour
|
|
Minimum Number of Direct Instruction Hours (s) Per Week
|
Minimum Number of Non-direct Instruction Hours (s) Per Week
|
Minimum Number of Direct Instruction Hours (s) Per Week
|
Minimum Number of Non-direct Instruction Hours (s) Per Week
|
|
Standard Courses*
|
|
Lecture/ Discussion/ Demonstration
/Seminar/ Workshops
|
10 hours
|
20 hours
|
15 hours
|
30 hours
|
|
Non-Standard Courses**
|
|
Internships
|
0 hours
|
30 hours
|
0 hours
|
45 hours
|
|
Student Teaching
|
5 hours
|
25 hours
|
8 hours
|
37 hours
|
|
Labs
|
20 hours
|
10 hours
|
30 hours
|
15 hours
|
|
Independent Study
|
1-10 hours
|
20-29 hours
|
1-15 hours
|
30-44 hours
|
|
Thesis/Dissertation
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
1-15 hours
|
30-44 hours
|
*The minimum number of direct or non-direct instruction hours per week is based on a standard 10-week course. For courses of other lengths, weekly hours should be calculated by dividing the total required hours (based on credit hours) by the number of instructional weeks. Additional guidance on the total number of hours for direct and non-direct instruction can be found in the Credit Hour Compliance Guidance Document on the Program & Curriculum Development website.
**Direct and non-direct hours for non-standard courses may vary depending on course content, learning outcomes, and/or programmatic accreditation/licensure requirements. For further information on credit-hour compliance for non-standard courses, please see the Credit Hour Compliance Guidance Document on the Program & Curriculum Development website.
EXPECTATIONS:
- All faculty teaching courses are expected to provide content and instruction to meet the assigned credit hours for their course(s) based on the requirements stated below.
- All new and revised courses are developed according to CHC requirements and must include a completed and approved Credit Hour Compliance form prior to the new or revised course being offered (if the course revisions affect CHC compliance in any way).
- Program leaders (or designee) are responsible for ensuring CHC forms comply with the documented master course syllabus and credit hour requirements, regardless of modality for all new and revised courses.
- At the time of course approval, college curriculum committees evaluate and attest that the average expected student work per week is aligned with the credits of the course.
- The Learning Experience and Design (LXD) team provides a quality check at the completion of new course development and course revision for the appropriate direct and non-direct instruction hour allocation based on the course credit hour. LXD designers review the learning activities and instructional materials to ensure that they are appropriate for the course, course level, and modality.
- The Provost’s Office ensures compliance with CHC requirements through ensuring a CHC form is on file for each course and modality and general adherence to the expectations laid out in this CHC policy document.
- For non-standard courses consult the Provost Office for review and to publish equivalency tables in the CHC Guidance document.