Course Credit Hour (as required by the HLC)

I. Policy Title: Course Credit Hour (as required by the HLC)

II. Who Does this Policy Affect

All HFC Board of Trustees, faculty, staff, employees, students, vendors/contractors and visitors to our campus

III. Purpose

This policy will guide establishing credit hours for new courses and validate credit hours for current courses as they are reviewed.

IV. Policy Statement

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:

a. 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 hour of credit, or the equivalent amount of work over a different amount of time; or

b. 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. (U.S. DOE regulation 34 CFR §600.)

A course credit hour shall be determined by the institution's predominant calendar system. A semester credit hour shall not be less than 800 instructional minutes. All other units should be measured proportionately.” (Michigan Postsecondary Data Inventory Manual, or MDPI Manual)

At Henry Ford College, a credit hour requires a minimum of 50 instructional minutes weekly for a 16-week semester for a total of 800 minutes, with an expectation of an additional 1600 minutes of out-of-class work by students. In traditional classroom settings, Henry Ford College awards an hour of credit for each 2400 minutes of expected student work, including 800 instructional minutes.

Henry Ford College follows this rule in establishing the number of credit hours awarded in dual-credit, hybrid, online, traditional, and nontraditional settings, including semesters of a shortened duration. This standard is consistent with the credit hour definitions found in U.S. Department of Education regulation 34 CFR §600.2 and the MDPI Manual.

V. Definitions

See definition of credit hour under Policy Statement, above.

VI. Responsible Party for Policy Interpretation/Review

HFC Registrar

VII. Related Documents

Michigan Postsecondary Data Inventory Data Manual
https://www.michigan.gov/documents/cepi/MPDI_Data_Manual_626688_7.pdf

34 CFR §600.2
https://www2.ed.gov/policy/highered/reg/hearulemaking/hea08/34cfr602.pdf

VIII. Policy History:

a. Adopted by Board: October 15, 2018

Review/Updated:
March 22, 2022 – Reviewed with no changes.

This Policy supersedes and replaces and and all policies related to this subject