How Many Credits To Graduate?
The number of credits it takes to graduate varies. It depends upon whether or not the college you attend operates on a semester hour or quarter hour basis.

A One-Minute Lecture
A semester hour credit is measured in terms of seat time. One semester hour credit means a student will attend class once a week for about 15 weeks in a class that meets for about an hour. The reason this is a wishy-washy time statementabout 15 weeks and about an hour, is because the exact length of a semester and a class period varies from college to college. At some colleges, one semester hour credit corresponds to 750 minutes of seat time. A semester hour credit has a value 1.5 times the value of a quarter hour credit; e.g., a two semester hour course is worth three quarter hours. This is because a semester has 15 weeks of instruction and a quarter has 10 weeks of instruction. Fifteen divided by ten (15/10) is 1.5. Obviously, credits for courses taken over the internet are not based on seat time. The seat time is translated into expected work and learning to award semester hour credits.

It also depends on the specific degree, major, and minor you choose. In either case you pay for the creditstuition. The more credits in a degree, the more you may pay. I say may pay because many schools have tuition plateau policies that favor attending college on a full time basis (see Chapter Two: Use The Right Tools For Your Schedule).

Tip: Find out the number of credits required to complete a degree. The typical range is 120 to 128 semester hour credits. But remember, this is the minimum. Find out the actual number of credits to complete a degree in your major. It may be more than the minimum!

Simple math is useful at this point to understand why it is important to think of completing a degree on schedule versus on time (in four years). First, assume that the degree desired can be acquired with a minimum 120 semester hours. Assume that this will be done in the traditional mannerfour academic years with the summers off and no credits transferred in. This means that you have to complete on average 15 semester hours each semester to graduate in four years! And all of your credits must apply to the correct component of your degree plangeneral education, prerequisites, major, and any special requirements. You have to know exactly what you are going to do when you start. It means that you have to come to grips with your constraints and control any and all of your special circumstances. Your constraints are dictated by the circumstances at the time that you make the decision to go to college. Many times the dominant constraints that can affect the time it takes you to complete a degree and choose a career include:
Financial
Academic preparation
Employment, a nearby good jobfull or part time
Family responsibilities
Any of the following factors will also have an impact:
Undecided about a career
Changing colleges
Changing majors
Academic mistakes
Relationships
Internships
Study abroad
Personal problems
Co-curricular activities
Virtually all students will have some of the constraints listed above and experience one or more of the factors indicated. As a result, it is easy to understand why it is becoming an anomaly to graduate in four years. If you cannot graduate in four years, you are not alone.

The majority of college students do not graduate in four years31% graduate in four years, 28% take four to five years, 11% take five to six years, 13% six to ten years and 17% take more than ten years (National Center for Education).

When I worked with colleagues on tasks and projects, I used a phrase to emphasize the importance of having a workable plan to get the task or project donewe need a bus schedule to complete this project. When you stop to think about it, a bus schedule has all the planning elements that you need to get from point A to point B. You need:
A planned paththe route
Choicesexpress or local
Designated places to stop and start
The type of busluxury or coach
The price of the ticket

There are variables that will affect the bus schedule. Some are out of the passengers control such as a breakdown, an unexpected detour, or a driver who is lost. Some are the passengers fault. You did not really want to go to place A. So, you needed another ticket to go to place C. You did not read the bus schedule correctly so you got on the wrong bus, or you got off at the wrong stop and had to walk or take a taxi to your final destination. You may experience the same problems that passengers on a bus do. They may have gotten on the wrong busyou may have started in the wrong major. They may not have understood the bus scheduleyou may not have understood the degree requirements in the college catalog and taken the wrong courses. They may have gotten off at the wrong stopyou may have to transfer to another college because you discovered the major you really wanted was not available.

You will need an educational map and a planned path to complete a degree on schedule.

It may be an express path: fouror feweryears. It may be a local path, with planned starts and stops because of work, athletics, or relationships. It may be luxury or coach depending upon the price of the tuition. But the planned path you choose and the schedule you build is your path and your schedule. This means that you have greater control over the variables that can affect the time for you to get out of college and get on with your career.
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