Most college freshmen are always curious to know how much time they’ll be spending in college. Probably in their high school days, they associated being a college student with being allowed to bask in the free world, unshackled from chaperoning eyes. Now they’ve been faced with a major academic storm. They feel restrained more than ever and would want their time in college to end as swiftly and quickly as possible. Most, however, are just curious about college life. However, the question as to how many hours is 2 years of college normally comes up.
Two years of college for a student willing to cover all academic tracks is 60 credit hours which is 180 work hours. But never below 48 credit hours which is 144 work hours. This is because 48 credit hours is the minimum a student can take on if such a student wants to graduate from college.
Read on to know more about Credit hours and why a college student should average between 48 – 60 credit hours (144 – 180 work hours) in 2 years!
What do College Credit hours mean?
College credit hours represent how much time, effort, and sweat a college student puts into a single course of study over a full semester. College credit hours determine whether or not a student is going to graduate. There is a specific number required for each student to complete before such a student can be awarded a degree.
Many students don’t know this, so they take pleasure in skipping a lot of classes and not completing their credit hours. This will only lead to extra semesters which are extra years.
A credit hour is equivalent to 1 hour spent in the classroom and 2 hours spent on homework during the week. Making it a total of 3 hours for a single credit hour. Each course carries a specific credit unit. Usually between 2 to 3 credit units depending on the course category.
For a bachelor’s degree, (four-year of study) there are 3 basic categories of courses with specific credit units attached to those courses. Depending on the college, we have:
- General education courses
- Free elective courses
- Courses designed for a specific area of study
General education courses include English, literature, etc. These courses are considered flexible courses to ensure students doing some specific programs know more about certain skills which would be of aid to them in their field of study. These courses are very important in a student’s academic career as they encourage academic versatility. For a bachelor’s degree, these courses carry 60 credit units in total.
Free electives are courses that are not categorized as specific courses needed in a student’s area of study. They are courses that may not be required for a student’s degree program but guarantees a student a different option of study, or most certainly, additional knowledge. Courses considered free electives, for a bachelor’s degree, carry a credit load of 30 credit units.
Courses designed for a specific area of study are courses that are in line with a student’s field of study. For example, a course that falls under this category for a Physics Major is Probability and Statistics. Courses designed for a specific area of study, for a bachelor’s degree, carry a credit load of 30 credit units.
Required Credit hours needed to graduate
A college student enrolled in a 4 years degree program needs between 90 and 120 college credit hours to earn a bachelor’s degree. That is between 270 and 360 work hours. To achieve this, a college student must have passed all the General education courses including the courses designed for a specific area of study.
To pass a course, a student must record nothing less than a D in such a course. Some colleges require a student to have a C to pass a given course. Nevertheless, such grades must be recorded across general education courses and courses designed for a specific area of study.
Why a student should average between 48 and 60 credit hours in Two years
Most students enrolled in college start feeling the strain that comes with being a college student. Sometimes they want to give up. However, there’s this voice in their head telling them to hang on tight till graduation year.
If a student wants to graduate, as observed in the arithmetic above, he/ she must conclude between 90 to 120 credit hours. Sometimes reaching that might be hard for some students. But such students must plan themselves on achieving at least the barest minimum of 48 credit hours in two years which is 144 work hours. That is 36 work hours of 12 credit hours per semester.
This will make certain that such a student can achieve above 90 credit hours which would grant such student a bachelor’s degree.
In conclusion, although College might be pretty tough for some undergraduates, planning oneself to achieve at least 12 credit hours per semester which is 48 credit hours in two years would be a good academic strategy. It will ensure that one graduate with a degree.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is a College of 2 years?
Community College. Time spent in community college is 2 years which gives a student less time to complete an associate degree program, and a better way for students enrolled in such colleges to learn at their own pace.
- How can one graduate from College in 2 years?
Although this is a very herculean and daunting feat to achieve, nevertheless, it is achievable. A student must take on between 24 and 30 credits of courses in a semester, making it between 48 and 60 credits per full academic year.
