Credit or “Units” System

Academic Courses
The meaning of word Course in the education system in USA is much different from what one knows. The higher education academy is normally divided into modules known as “Courses”. Besides scheduled number of training hours, each course includes lecture course, laboratory course, fieldwork course, performance or studio course, practical course, seminars and research course.

Credit System
The students studying in USA Universities complete their entire course when his performance is judged with both the course grade and number of credits. Hence, the student has to accumulate certain amount of “Credits” during the entire course. The “Credit” is also known as “Semester/Quarter hours” or “Units”. For each semester of course taken by you earns specific amount of credit/units/hours. College Credit hours are nothing but the numbers of hours of scheduled instruction per week. On the completion of the course, the performance of the student is judged by both the set of number of credit hours along with course grade. You can take help of the academic advisor for scheduling the course of your academic year.

For four year undergraduate study, the minimum number of required credit ranges from 120 to 130. For graduate degree, the student needs credit that ranges from 130 to 180. For master degree, the student needs to take 8 courses of subjects with 3 credits each along with the thesis of 6 hours credit or 10 courses of subjects each with 3 credits each without thesis.

Number of credit hours is also decisive factor to verify the status of the student taking up full-time or part-time degree program. It is essential for International students to maintain a full-time course load in order to maintain their visa status.