How much time should a student be expected to spend in an online course?
Whether it’s a 16 week or 8-week course, the magic number is 135 hours of student engagement. Here’s where that comes from: The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) and federal guidelines typically require that a 3-credit hour course involve approximately 45 hours of instructional time, plus additional time for student work outside of class. This standard is based on the traditional model of 15 weeks of instruction, with each credit hour representing one hour of classroom time and two hours of out-of-class work per week. For online or hybrid courses, institutions must demonstrate equivalent time on task through various forms of academic engagement, such as participating in online discussions, completing assignments, engaging with course materials, taking quizzes or tests, watching videos, or any other learning activities designed in the course. The total expected time commitment for students in a 3-credit course, including both instructional time and independent work, is generally around 135 hours over the course of a semester. Institutions must ensure their courses meet these guidelines to maintain accreditation and comply with federal regulations for financial aid eligibility. To learn more, read the SACSCOC Credit Hour Policy.
A useful tool to estimate student engagement hours in each module is the Workload Estimator 2.0 from the Center for the Advancement of Teaching at Wake Forest University. Keep in mind that your students are not experts in your content area. What may take an instructor an hour to read or do may take a student 2-3 hours to complete. For insights on the time it takes college students to complete academic tasks, check out this detailed analysis from Wake Forest.
Always design your courses for meaningful learning, not filling hours. There is no single formula for reaching the 135 hours, no designated number of activities, assignments, or reading. The important thing to remember is that everything your students do should contribute to their mastery of the course learning outcomes.
