Credit Hour Estimator

Overview

The purpose of the Credit Hour Estimator tool is to help faculty ensure their students receive the instruction time assigned in accordance with the Iowa Code and U.S. Department of Education standards. 

NICC utilizes the Carnegie Unit as the basis for the credit hour with 55 minutes of instruction equivalent to one hour.  Instructors must incorporate no less than three hours of direct instruction per credit hour, though the ratio of faculty-directed instruction to student work (indirect instruction) varies across the different types of courses. Students can be expected to spend two hours out of class (indirect instruction) for every hour they spend in-class (direct instruction). 

Instructors can read more about the research behind the workload estimator here.

Credit Hour Policy

The College utilizes the Carnegie Unit as the basis for the credit hour with 55 minutes of instruction equivalent to one hour.  The following guidelines are used to ensure adequate instructional time is met with opportunity for achievement of student learning outcomes.

• 1 theory credit = 16 hours of instruction or 880 minutes.  

• 1 lab credit = 32 hours of instruction or 1760 minutes.

• 1 clinical credit = 48 hours of instruction or 2,640 minutes.

• 1 cooperative (Coop) credit = 64 hours of instruction or 3,520 minutes. 

Calculation for Credit Hours