How long is a college semester? A typical semester system consists of two 15-week terms; one is spring and one in fall. Students have to attend the class 5 days per week though depends on the college. In some colleges, you have to attend the days on which you have classes, if you don’t have a class that will be considered as you off day.
Each semester is approximately 75 days of classes. Since there are 2 semesters per year, there will be a total of 150 classes per year and sometimes it may extend to 180 classes. This number can vary depending on the class or course you are taking. How this variation can happen will be discussed below.
ACCELERATED DEGREE COURSES:
These are also known as “Fast-track degrees” which is quite self-explanatory. Such types of courses take your 3-year undergraduate degree and short it down to 2 years. It consists of online classes. A typical university course ends usually in 15 to 16 weeks but the accelerated bachelor’s program compresses the courses into a short 5/8 or 10 weeks session.
AMOUNT OF COURSE OF ACCELERATED DEGREE:
Accelerated degrees have the same amount of course content but shorter and fewer holidays as to complete the course within 8 or 10 weeks. That type of course structure can vary from university to university. Students taking the accelerated course have 40 classes per year which means 20 classes per semester instead of the traditional 15-week semester program.
By completing the degree fast, you will get to receive the degree sooner and graduate faster. The major advantage is that you can save money for course and accommodation fees alongside. If your university doesn’t offer such degrees or courses, you can take extra courses to add up more credit hours.
CREDIT HOURS IN SEMESTERS:
Credit hour measures the amount of time you spend in a class per week. For example, one credit hour means attending one hour class per week. The majority of undergraduate classes make it mandatory to gain 3 credit hours per week which means you have to attend 3 hours of classes per week for every course you take to graduate.
HOURS REQUIRED BY PARTICULAR DEGREES:
1) Bachelor’s degree: A typical bachelor’s degree requires students to complete 120 credit hours per year. If you fail to do so you will not be able to graduate.
2) Associate Degree: It requires completing 60 credit hours to graduate.
3) Master’s Degree: Completing 36-54 credit hours for a Master’s Degree is a prerequisite.
4) Doctorate Degree: It is essential to complete 90-120 credit hours to obtain a Doctorate Degree.
5) Online Degree: While earning credit hours for an online degree, Colleges have a flexible schedule and
Students must be self- motivated in the learning process and submit their work on time.
With this, there is a thesis document that needs to submit in support of the academic result, as explained below.
DISSERTATION/THESIS:
It is a document that needs to be submitted which makes the academic degree or professional skills and qualifications worth it. A dissertation exhibits one’s research and findings and makes the profile strong. For students, this must be the most challenging task to complete and they spend hours trying to prepare it but the rewards can be fruitful. There are two types of dissertation which are as follows;
1) Empirical Dissertation:
It means gathering and collecting data as in Psychology. While acquiring data from the public, it is important to keep the methods of research and ethical guidelines in mind. An empirical Dissertation associated with natural science is merely based on laboratory work.
2) Non-Empirical Dissertation:
In this type of a dissertation, you need to critically analyze the work of others and be able to explain the logic behind it. It is merely based on scrutinizing the already present data and arguments in the work of others. To ace, these tasks students need to have certain skills. For example,
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You should be able to identify the leading issues.
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You should able to come to an analytical conclusion.
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You should be able to assess its legitimacy.
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You should be able to assess its reliability.
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You should be able to defend all arguments against it.
CONCLUSION:
Concluding it up, a typical college semester is 15 weeks long and there are 2 semesters per year so the total will be 30 weeks per year. There are certain courses that you can take to complete your semester fast but it requires effort and hard work. Such courses are called accelerated courses that offer online classes and in-person classes as well. To complete the semesters successfully, credit hours are to be kept in mind which means at least 3 hours of classes per week is mandatory. Credit hours depend on the courses students are taking. To support your qualification, a type of document called a dissertation is to be submitted along with the other credentials to graduate auspiciously.