Credit Standards

Course Credit Hours and Student Workload Expectations

Effective: September 1, 2011

Version History: Approved by EPC on December 15, 2010; Approved by Campus Assembly April 12, 2011. Revised and approved Oct 12, 2020. Developed and approved by Faculty Senate with campus input spring 2026; UCC confirmation April 17, 2026; EVCP approval June 5, 2026 (renamed from Credit Standards for Instruction and Student Work).

Policy Owner: Academic Affairs

Policy Contacts: Jennifer Mencl (undergraduate), Erik Brown (graduate), Tracey Bolen (Registrar)

This policy guides academic units in specifying course credits and establishing minimum student workload expectations, and informs the scheduling of instructional time. Course instruction modes and attributes (online, remote, blended, in-person) are defined in UMD’s Course and Class Sections Requirements policy.

UMD uses semester credit hours as the unit of measure for the amount of student work expected in a course. Credit hours provide a consistent minimum expectation for students and faculty.

  1. Credit hour definition: One credit hour reasonably approximates a minimum of three hours of student work each week for 15 weeks for one term, or the equivalent amount of work over a different period of time. All undergraduate course syllabi must include a student workload statement demonstrating how the course conforms to student workload expectations.
  2. Lecture and discussion/seminar courses: 
    1. For lecture and discussion/seminar courses scheduled as in-person and remote (synchronous online; including blended with remote), one credit hour requires one hour of classroom or direct faculty instruction (i.e., instructional time) and an expectation of at least two hours of out-of-class student work each week for 15 weeks for one semester, or the equivalent amount of work over a different period of time. One hour of scheduled class time is 50 minutes.
    2. Lecture and discussion/seminar courses scheduled as online (asynchronous online; including blended with online) shall include a reasonably equivalent amount of student work time and instruction and shall lead to the same learning outcomes as the same course taught entirely in-person or remotely.  
  3. Other academic activities for which credit is awarded: 
    1. For courses involving laboratory work, studio work, field work, internships, practica, directed study, directed readings, and directed research, an equivalent amount of student work described in #1 is required per credit. 
    2. Laboratory work, studio work, and field work typically involve students spending more time in the activity and less time doing course work outside of the activity compared to lecture courses, such that instructional time may be greater than course credits. In courses for which student work time in the activity is equivalent to the minimum expected student work time, one credit equals three hours of instructional time per week during a fifteen-week semester.
    3. In courses involving individualized instruction such as directed study, directed readings, directed research, and internships, which require a written contract outlining the responsibilities of each student for the course, instructional time may be less than the course credits.
    4. For internships, student teaching, practica, or similar courses, the total expected student time is 45 hours per credit for the term. The general guideline for one credit is a minimum of 40 hours of work in a supervised setting over the course of the term plus the remaining hours of student work time outside of the supervised setting to total 45 hours for the term. Work in a supervised setting includes all time spent doing activities for the organization. Programs with specialized accreditation that have agency standards for supervised time that are greater than this policy must meet the accrediting agency’s standards. All programs that require more than 40 hours per credit per term for the minimum hours of work in a supervised setting must have a program, department, or college policy that states the minimum hours per credit. 
  4. Exceptions:
    1. Undergraduate courses: Courses with expectations of student work in excess of three hours per credit per week are permissible with college approval. Instructors must provide appropriate notification in the syllabus regarding the amount of work expected for the course.
    2. Graduate courses: The academic work required in graduate courses is expected to exceed three hours per credit per week on average. This includes dual-listed courses that are offered concurrently at the undergraduate (4xxx) level and the graduate (5xxx) level (Course Numbering Definitions and Requirements Policy); for these types of dual-listed courses the workload expectations will be higher for the students enrolled in the graduate-level course.
  5. Course proposals and reviews:
    1. Proposals for new courses must include the number of course credits and the instructional time consistent with this policy.
    2. Academic departments and colleges should periodically review course syllabi to determine whether the number of course credits and amount of expected student work are appropriate. Changes to course credits and/or instructional time will follow campus curriculum procedures.

Definition(s):

Instructional time: instructor-directed, structured time that provides opportunity for students to interact with instructors in scheduled (e.g., in-person, remote) and non-scheduled (e.g., asynchronous) classes. Examples include instructors actively presenting information, leading discussions, facilitating activities, guiding practice, and one-on-one coaching. Forms of direct, structured instruction may vary based on course instruction modes, consistent with regular and substantive interaction expectations as described in Course and Class Sections Requirements.

Related information: 

Course and Class Sections Requirements Policy

Course Numbering Definitions and Requirements Policy

Resources: