How Many Credits Do You Need to Graduate from College?

College credits are used to measure a student’s progress toward completing a degree program. How many credits are needed to graduate from college can vary by institution or degree program, or both. In general, however, a student must earn about 120 semester credits to graduate from a bachelor’s degree program and about 60 semester credits to graduate from an associate degree program.

Understanding College Credits

What Is a College Credit?

A college credit is a unit of measurement used to track academic progress. Courses are assigned a certain number of credits, typically three or four per course, and the student earns those credits by completing the course with a passing grade. Semester credits and quarter credits are two common credit-hour systems.

• Semester credits are typically used where the academic year is divided into two main terms, called “semesters” (although some schools may use the semester credit system even if their academic year is divided up differently). A semester is roughly four months long, or about 15 weeks. Typically, there is a fall semester, which runs from August to December, and a spring semester, which runs from January to May.
• Quarter credits are typically used where the academic year is divided into four quarters—fall, winter, spring and summer. A quarter is shorter than a semester, lasting only about ten weeks.

Online colleges and universities that offer condensed sessions may use either the semester credit or quarter credit system. Trident University International, for example, offers eight-week sessions (starting monthly) and uses a semester credit system, where a credit hour is the amount of work required to earn a course credit and is based on a 50-minute hour of active learning. Most courses at Trident are worth three or four credit hours.

What Is a Passing Grade?

What counts as a passing grade may vary by institution or program—for example, the minimum passing grade may be as low as a D, while in others, it may be a C or a B.

Furthermore, colleges or degree programs may have special policies regarding low passing grades. For example, although earning a D may technically count as a passing grade, that class may not count toward prerequisite, major or minor requirements.

The takeaway here is that, while earning the highest grade possible should be the goal of every student, low grades can happen, and it is advisable to familiarize yourself with your school’s course credit policies.

How Many Credit Hours Are Needed for Full-Time Status?

In general, an undergraduate student will need to be enrolled in a minimum of 12 semester credit hours per term in order to maintain full-time status. Part-time undergraduate students will have a lighter course load. However, the minimum number of credits needed to maintain part-time status can vary—often, it will be one or two courses that are worth three to four credits each.

At Trident, an undergraduate session lasts eight weeks, and bachelor’s degree students may be enrolled in a maximum of three active courses at any time. For four-credit courses, a full-time load at the undergraduate level is considered to be two courses (or eight semester hours) per session. For three-credit courses, a full-time load at the undergraduate level is considered to be two courses (or six semester hours) per session.

College Credit Requirements for Graduation

How Many Credits Are Needed for a Bachelor’s Degree?

As we mentioned in the introduction, a student typically needs to earn 120 semester credits to graduate from college with a bachelor’s degree. Now, compare that to how many credits are needed for a master’s degree—a number that usually falls between 30 and 48. What accounts for the difference?

Broadly speaking, bachelor’s degree programs are designed so that students receive a well-rounded education. To achieve this end, schools require undergrads to complete a mix of general education, major and elective courses, although the exact number of each type of course will vary by school, degree program and even degree type (e.g., Bachelor of Science degree programs may leave students less room to pursue electives compared to Bachelor of Arts degree programs).

Master’s degree programs, in contrast, are more specialized. Because general education courses are not part of their curricula, master’s degree programs require fewer total credits.

Bachelor’s Degree Course Breakdown

• General education courses help to ensure that undergraduates are exposed to broad foundational knowledge and skills. General education requirements are satisfied by taking courses in math, science and the humanities (e.g., history, philosophy, languages and the arts). Students in bachelor’s degree programs typically spend the first two years of a four-year program completing general education requirements. Depending on the school and/or degree program, these requirements can comprise up to half of the college credits a student needs to graduate.
• Major courses relate directly to a student’s chosen degree program (e.g., business administration, computer science, health sciences). Some are required; others are elective. Unlike general electives, electives that count toward a student’s major are typically chosen from a preselected group of courses which have been approved by the academic department offering the major.
• General elective courses are credit-bearing courses that do not count toward a student’s major or general education requirements. Bachelor’s degree programs typically require students to complete a certain number of general elective credits. Some schools/degree programs permit students to pursue a degree concentration as an alternative to choosing their own electives (a degree concentration is a predetermined set of elective courses focused on a subtopic within the student’s major field of study). And some offer students the ability to declare a minor, which is a secondary field of study that does not have to be related to the student’s major, and which requires fewer courses/college credits to complete than a major course of study.

Planning Your Academic Journey

Pursuing a college degree involves a significant time commitment—typically, associate degree programs are designed to be completed in two years, and bachelor’s degree programs are designed to be completed in four. But there are various factors that can impact a student’s time to graduation, including course load, transfer credits and attendance format (online vs. in-person).

To get a better idea of your personal timeline, prior to enrolling in any program, you should consider how many college credits you will need to graduate, how many courses you plan to take per academic session and how many credits you may be able to transfer in (if any). When thinking about these things, you should be honest and realistic—sure, you may want to take on a full course load every term, but is that reasonable given your professional and personal obligations?

Setting Yourself Up for Success

A manageable course load can be a critical factor in achieving academic success, and Trident’s 100% online degree programs offer working adults the flexibility needed to pursue their academic goals at their own pace, on their own time.

Trident also offers various student support services to help you succeed. Every Trident student is assigned a Student Success Advisor who is trained to assist in course selection, explaining program requirements, helping new students transition into the university community, and more. We have also partnered with Tutor.com, to provide students with live 24/7 academic support.

Contact us today for more information, or apply now.

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