For college, academics and education, credit hours are a significant factor and serve as a key part of how institutions measure progress toward a degree.
“Credit hours are widely accepted as the basis for measuring engaged student learning time in the higher education sector,” said Jacqui Smith, senior vice president for business and finance at Milligan University, “A course load of 12 to 18 hours is considered the standard range for full-time status for undergraduate students at the collegiate level.”
It is standard practice for colleges to charge additional fees to students who take more than the full-time load. This means students nationwide may incur an extra charge if they enroll in more classes than those covered by base tuition.
Credit hours can also positively affect students after graduation. Using credit hours as a measurement shows employers that job applicants have received a high-quality education from accredited institutions..
“Halfway through my second semester, I decided I wanted to go to med school and was going to have to take a bunch of prerequisites that aren’t in my major,” said sophomore Katelyn Williams. “I decided that I wanted to graduate in three instead of four and told my advisor and the academic dean that.”
Williams, a collegiate swimmer at Milligan, is now projected to graduate in December of 2026 due to new FAFSA updates and because she entered Milligan with 48 AP credits and 15 dual-enrollment credits.
She said she dislikes having her classes crammed together to graduate early, especially because she now must take summer courses and prerequisite classes to prepare for medical school.
“I can’t swim in med school, so I’m giving up a year and a half of swimming just because I have to graduate early,” Williams said.
For her, swimming is an important part of her college experience, and because of FAFSA-related issues, Williams feels she will not get a true senior year. Fitting in required courses while managing prerequisites has also been difficult, she said.
