SVCC publishes the number of credits awarded for courses in its
college catalog. Credits awarded for courses are also published in
the SVCC semester schedule of classes. SVCC's course credit policy
is based on the VCCS Master Course File.
Practices governing the determination of the amount and level
of credit awarded for courses are outlined in the VCCS Policy
Manual. For example, each semester hour of credit given for a
course is based on the “academic hour,” which is 50 minutes of
formalized, structured instructional time in a particular course
weekly for fifteen weeks as stated in Section 5.8.b of the VCCS
Policy Manual. This is a total of 750 minutes of instruction. In
addition to this instructional time, a minimum of one hour of
scheduled evaluation or examination for each semester hour of
credit is generated by the course, not to exceed three academic
hours (150 minutes). Courses may consist of lectures, out-of-class
study, laboratory, and shop study, or combinations thereof. The
VCCS Policy Manual provides guidelines for the number of credits
that may be assigned to each activity.
Supporting Documentation
