Semester Hour

What is a semester hour at Lincoln University?

Students are awarded credit for coursework based on the Carnegie unit, a system measuring educational credit based on the number of classroom or direct faculty instruction and out-of-class student work per week during a semester term.

The semester credit hour is defined as 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 hour of credit. Two or three hours of laboratory work are equivalent to one 50-minute lecture period.

Courses offered in alternative formats (e.g., four- or eight-week sessions or intersession) must meet for a time period that equates to the 50-minute period times 15 weeks (for a total of 750 minutes per credit hour offered). For example, a three-credit-hour, four-week summer course that meets for four days each week must meet for 150 minutes each day.