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
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.
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.”