How many study hours is equal to one credit.

meanmaryjean, DNP, RN · Mar 6, 2015

A general rule of thumb is this: For every one semester credit- there are 16 hours of classroom study per semester PLUS 3 hours/ week of outside study (3 x 16= 48). So sixteen in class and 48 out of class = 64 hours total.

pmabraham, BSN, RN · Mar 6, 2015

Good day:

For RN prerequisites we were told that for every 1 hour of class time, we should plan on dedicating a minimum 2 hours of study time. Once in the RN program, we were told that for every 1 hour of class time, we should dedicate a minimum of 3 hours of study time. Personally, I found the 3 hour minimum works best for both prerequisites and the actual RN classes. For some students, they will need more time, and others less time.

Thank you.

SingDanceRunLife · Mar 9, 2015

I personally don't find it necessary to spend 3 hours studying for 1 hour of class time. If I did that, it would mean 36 hours of studying a week, and I do maybe half that (on a good week) and am getting in the 80s and 90s on everything. My point isn't to brag, just to say that you need to figure out what you personally need because it's different for everyone.

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Mar 11, 2015

If the OP is asking, "How does the number of hours in a classroom translate into number of credit hours?" there is no good answer. A lecture course with 4.5 hours per week (1.5 hours x 3 days) may or may not give you 4.5 credits. Lab courses typically take more clock hours, but may not award more credit hours. And different colleges use different scales, too. There is no overarching standard conversion factor that applies to every college.

So if you are looking for the answer to this question to see if some college will give you more credits for your time spent in class than another college will, it's not a fair question. Even if College A awards you 4.5 credit hours for that lecture class and College B awards you 3 credit hours for 4.5 hours spent in lecture, they aren't comparable on that basis. That's because College A may require more of their credit hours for graduation than College B, but they both require the same amount of education time.

Imagine: College A gives you 1.5 red jellybeans for every hour you spend in class, and 2 jellybeans for every 4 hour-lab. You must take 6 classes and 4 labs for your major, so that's 9 + 8 = 17 jellybeans to graduate.

College B gives you 1 jellybean for every hour in class, and 4 for every 4-hour lab. You must take 6 classes and 4 labs for your major, so that's 6 + 16 = 22 jellybeans to graduate.

It would be silly to choose to go to College A over College B because it requires fewer jellybeans to graduate, because the amount of classroom + lab hours is the same in both schools.

Or am I completely misunderstanding your question?

Jenngirl34RN · Mar 11, 2015

It will depend on whether your school is on a semester or quarter system, and it will depend on what type of classes you are taking (lab class vs. lecture class, for example). Even then, there can be variances between schools. Your best way to answer this question is to ask someone at your school or look at the school policy. I know for my school it is posted online under student enrollment information.