How does Baker College define a credit hour?
Baker College defines and assigns credit hours in accordance with federal regulations 34 CFR § 600.2 and the standards established by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC). All credit-bearing courses, regardless of delivery format or instructional modality, must reflect an equivalent amount of academic engagement and student learning to maintain academic integrity.
Standard Framework for a Credit Hour for a traditional 15-16 week semester, each credit hour assumes 3 hours of total student engagement per week. This consists of:
- Direct Instruction: 1 hour (50 minutes) of classroom or direct faculty instruction (such as face-to-face lectures or synchronous online sessions).
- Out-of-Class Work: A minimum of 2 hours of independent student work (readings, assignments, projects) each week.
- Total Term Engagement: This results in a cumulative total of 45 to 48 hours of student engagement per credit hour over the full semester.
What happens in alternative or non-traditional formats? When courses are delivered outside of the standard full-term lecture format, workload and contact expectations scale proportionally to maintain equivalent academic rigor:
- Condensed Courses: Courses offered in accelerated timeframes (e.g. 4-, 6-, 8-, or 12-week sessions) must provide the exact same total instructional content and learning outcomes as standard semester-length courses.
- Distance Education: Online Asynchronous and Hybrid courses must track documented, measurable academic engagement (such as discussion board participation, assignment submissions, or synchronous sessions). Simply logging into a course shell without active participation does not qualify as engagement.
- Laboratory Courses: One credit hour requires 2 hours of supervised lab activity and 1 hour of independent student work per week across a standard semester, totaling approximately 24 hours of engagement.
- Clinical and Experiential Learning: Clinical, practicum, and internships require between 40 and 60 hours of supervised experiential work per credit hour, up to a maximum of 6 academic credits.
Workload Expectations by Course Format
Estimated Workload by Course Type and Length
| Workload Expectations by Course Format |
| Course Type & Length |
Minimum Total Hours Required |
Approximate Weekly Commitment |
| 12-Week Didactic/Lecture Based Course |
45 hours total |
4 hours/week |
| 8-Week Didactic/Lecture Based Course |
45 hours total |
6 hours/week |
| 6-Week Didactic/Lecture Based Course |
45 hours total |
8 hours/week |
| 4-Week Didactic/Lecture Based Course |
45 hours total |
12 hours/week |
| 12-Week Laboratory Course |
30 contact hours total |
5 hours/week |
| 8-Week Laboratory Course |
30 contact hours total |
7.5 hours/week |
| 6-Week Laboratory Course |
30 contact hours total |
10 hours/week |
| 4-Week Laboratory Course |
30 contact hours total |
15 hours/week |
| 1-Credit Clinical Course |
40 to 60 hours |
Determined by program residency standards |
| 2-Credit Clinical Course |
61 to 120 hours |
Determined by program residency standards |
| 3-Credit Clinical Course |
120 to 180 hours |
Determined by program residency standards |
| 4-Credit Clinical Course |
160 to 240 hours |
Determined by program residency standards |
| 5-Credit Clinical Course |
200 to 300 hours |
Determined by program residency standards |
| 6-Credit Clinical Course |
301 minimum to 640 maximum hours |
Determined by program residency standards |