Credit Hours

Credit for curriculum courses is measured in semester credit hours. SCC follows the credit hour definitions provided by the NC State Board of Community Colleges Code.

SBCCC 400.1(C) defines credit hours as:

(1) Class: Credit of one semester hour is awarded for each 16 hours of lecture and other instruction provided in a class under the supervision of an instructor.

(2) Clinical Practice: Credit of one semester hour is awarded for each 48 hours of clinical practice. Clinical practice provides an opportunity for health science students to apply knowledge and skills in their delivery of care in a health care setting. A qualified faculty member, clinical instructor, or preceptor, as defined by the program related approving or accrediting body, shall supervise clinical practice to provide the student with learning experiences related to the program and to monitor and assess the student’s application of skills. Clinical practice may utilize experiences that simulate realistic clinical experiences to meet the curriculum and course objectives. The percentage of simulation experiences substituting for traditional clinical practice and the qualifications of faculty providing the simulation experience must comply with the guidelines of the applicable health science accrediting and approving bodies.

(3) Experiential Laboratory: Credit of one semester hour is awarded for each 32 hours of "experiential laboratory work." Experiential laboratory work means instruction given to a student by an instructor to increase the student's knowledge and skills without immediate student application.

(4) Faculty Directed Laboratory: Credit of one semester hour is awarded for each 48 hours of "faculty directed laboratory." Faculty directed laboratory means instructional activities are demonstrated or conducted by an instructor with immediate student application.

(5) Work-Based Learning: Credit of one semester hour is awarded for each 160 hours of work-based learning (WBL curriculum prefix courses). Work-based learning is the development of job skills by providing the student with employment that is directly related to the educational program, and coordinated by a college representative.