Credit Hours
School for International Training (SIT) adheres to the standard that 1 credit hour equals no less than 45 hours of coursework. The calculation is based on the standard 50-minute academic hour. The number of credits each course carries determines how many total hours each course involves in a semester.
Of the 45-hours for 1-credit hour, one third is designated for direct faculty instruction. Direct faculty instruction includes all learning activities led by the faculty whether in the classroom or in the field — lectures, guest speakers, site visits, hands-on field activities, etc. A student’s learning experience may include multi-day visits to local organizations in addition to educational excursions. These are all counted as direct instruction. The remaining 30 hours are reserved for students to dedicate to coursework (homework, readings, projects, group work).
This policy ensures compliance with NECHE standards and widely accepted academic standards for credit allocation. Upon arrival, students receive a detailed calendar that shows additional supervised activities that count toward instructional time and the time associated with each required activity, which may include orientation sessions, class schedules, organizational visit times, excursion activity details, research preparation times, presentation and weekly learning cycle schedule, meeting schedules with their faculty and program evaluation activities.