HIT/CIM Course Load Guidelines

HIT/CIM online courses are intensive and require self-direction, discipline, excellent time management and organizational skills, as well as good study habits. At the start of the semester, the instructor will publish a Course Calendar for each course. The Course Calendar describes the weekly study topics and due dates for specific assignments. For most courses, there are weekly assignments that must be completed by a specific date. In addition to textbook readings, practical exercises, quizzes, exams, research, and group assignments, students may also have comprehensive lecture materials to review. The average hours per week a student will spend in these activities for an online class are 3 hours per unit.

This table depicts average workload depending on the student’s course load:

SBCC Course Units	Status	No. of hours per week per unit for online course work	Average hours per week for total units taken
12	Full-time student	3 hours	36 hours
9	Part-time student	3 hours	27 hours
6	Part-time student	3 hours	18 hours
3	Part-time student	3 hours	9 hours

In consideration of this, the HIT/CIM Program recommends students adhere to the following guidance related to course load. Students who:

• Work full-time and have family and personal commitments are advised to limit enrollment to 6 units per semester.
• Work 20 hours per week and have family and personal commitments are advised to limit enrollment to 9 units per semester.
• Are full-time and are returning to school after a number of years are advised to limit enrollment to 6 units per semester.
• Are newcomers to online learning, or who have a low comfort level with computers, may want to limit their first semester to 3-6 units.
• It is recommended that students limit their enrollment in SBCC's short 10 week summer session to one HIT/CIM class. Summer sessions are intensive, covering 16 weeks of material in 10 weeks, which amounts to 14-14.5 hours per week of study time for a 3-unit class.