The semester credit hour is the basic unit of credit awarded at the Institute. The academic value of each course is stated in semester credits. DigiPen defines a semester credit hour as follows:
Over any semester, one semester credit hour of academic credit equals:
- at least 15 hours of classroom contact, or
- at least 40 hours per credit of independent study, or
- at least 22.5 hours of supervised laboratory time, or
- at least 45 hours of internship experience
In addition, each semester credit also assumes:
- a minimum of 30 hours over the semester for external preparation, project work, or homework by the student, except for independent studies or internship experience.
A classroom contact hour is 53 minutes in length.
Whenever “semester hour” is used in this Catalog, it is synonymous with “semester credit hour” (SCH) and does not always represent “hours per week in class.” Students taking courses over the summer should be aware that the total number of hours for a course is compressed into fewer weeks, but is not reduced. The number of courses that a student is recommended to take during the shorter summer semester is therefore fewer than the fall or spring semesters.