Credit Hours

What are Credit Hours?

Credit hours indicate how much time you should expect to spend on coursework (both during and outside of class time) each week.

Ohio guidelines state that 3 hours of work for each credit hour should be expected to earn a grade of 'C' in the class. So for a 3-credit-hour class, you would expect to spend 9 hours each week working on the course.

However, other online sources tend to estimate 2-3 hours of work for each credit hour. Surveys generally report that college students average 15-25 hours per week on study (outside of attending class). This may vary greatly depending on your course of study and how important your grade is to you personally.

Students must take a minimum of 12 credit hours per semester to be considered full-time. Be aware (or beware) however, that only taking 12 credit hours per semester is generally not enough to graduate a 4 year program in 8 semesters (4 years).

At Miami, 124 credit hours are required for a Bachelor's Degree, which averages to 15.5 credit hours per semester over 8 semesters. Creating a Graduation Plan with your Academic Advisor is the most important thing you can do to ensure you graduate on your expected timeline!

Course descriptions and listings will show how many credit hours are assigned to the class.

Success Tip

Make sure you're aware how many credit hours you need to complete your degree within your time frame. Talking with an academic advisor and making it clear when you want to graduate can help you be successful. Miami also offers Summer and Winter classes. This can help you by reducing your course load for Fall and Spring semesters!

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