Interpreting Credit Hours and Course Descriptions

Huntington University's Definition of Credit Hour

A credit hour is an equivalency established by Huntington University that reasonably approximates the amount of work expected in a Carnegie unit. 

In the undergraduate program, each semester hour credit represents class attendance for one class period per week for a semester of 14 weeks or its equivalent, plus a final examination week. A lecture period is 50 minutes. Laboratory and studio periods are two or three hours. A laboratory period is considered equivalent to one lecture period.  Students of average ability are expected to devote an average of two to three hours of study and class preparation for each lecture class session and one to two hours preparation and follow-up for each laboratory period.

Building on the life and work experiences of adult students, courses in the graduate and adult studies programs may be accelerated.  Fewer seat hours in a course are off-set with greater expectations concerning study and preparation between classes.  In all cases, the student learning outcomes for an adult course are equivalent to the learning outcomes for a course with similar content and credits in the traditional format.  Therefore, a three-credit course in one format has equivalent learning outcomes to similar three-credit courses in other formats. 

Interpreting Course Description Information

Courses numbered from 100-199 are freshman level, 200-299 are sophomore level, 300-399 are junior level and 400-499 are senior level. Courses numbered 500 or above are in the graduate program. While this numbering system serves primarily as a guide to the expectations and demands of those courses, freshmen may not take junior or senior level courses unless required in their specific program or unless permission is granted. 

Semester credit hours are shown in parentheses below the line of the course title. Any prerequisites are indicated at the end of each description. Students wishing to register for courses who have not taken the stated prerequisites may appeal for permission to enroll to the directors of graduate and online programs. 

Frequency of offerings is indicated at the beginning of each description. Frequency of offerings is noted for purposes of schedule planning. Student enrollments and staffing considerations may make it necessary for the University to alter the planned sequence of course offerings.

Individualized coursework opportunities exist in most departments in the form of internships, practica, field experiences, directed studies and independent studies. Internships and practica place students in off-campus learning environments. Practica are more limited exploratory experiences, and internships are culminating apprenticeships. Field experiences are included as part of specific courses. Directed studies may be tutorial instruction or individualized. Independent studies are largely self-directed. Guidelines and application forms are available from program directors.

The University reserves the right to withdraw a course which is under enrolled.