Max Hours by Semester
Each semester, you can enroll in a max amount of credit hours. This helps with academic performance and avoids burnout from being enrolled in too many courses at once.
What's Your Max?
In the fall or spring 16-week semester, you can enroll in a max of 18 credit hours. In the summer semester, you can enroll in a max of 14 credit hours.
To ensure the quality of learning, limits are placed on the number of credit hours you can take each semester. The number of credit hours is based on the length of the semester. For example, in an 8-week semester, you cannot enroll in more than 10 credit hours. Please refer to the table below for credit hour limits for each semester. The semester length is listed on your schedule/bill.
| Semester | Calendar weeks | max credit hours |
|---|---|---|
| Full Semester (1M, 1T, 1E, 1H, 1F) | 16 weeks | 18 hours |
| Weekend Semester (1WF, 1WS) | 13 weeks | 15 hours |
| 13-week (13M, 13T, 13W, 13H, 13F) | 13 weeks | 15 hours |
| First 12-week (12A) | 12 weeks | 14 hours |
| Second 12-week (12M, 12T, 12W, 12H, 12F) | 12 weeks | 14 hours |
| 10-week (10) | 10 weeks | 12 hours |
| First 8-week (8AM, 8AT, 8AW) | 8 weeks | 10 hours |
| Second 8-week (8BM, 8BT, 8BW) | 8 weeks | 10 hours |
| 6-week (6A) | 6 weeks | 8 hours |
| First 5-week (5A) | 5 weeks | 7 hours |
| Second 5-week (5B) | 5 weeks | 7 hours |
| Third 5-week (5C) | 5 weeks | 7 hours |
| First 4-week (4A) | 4 weeks | 6 hours |
| Second 4-week (4B) | 4 weeks | 6 hours |
| Third 4-week (4C) | 4 weeks | 6 hours |
| Fourth 4-week (4D) | 4 weeks | 6 hours |
| Semester | Calendar weeks | max credit hours |
|---|---|---|
| Full Semester (1M, 1T, 1E, 1H, 1F) | 16 weeks | 18 hours |
| Weekend Semester (1WF, 1WS) | 13 weeks | 15 hours |
| 13-week (13M, 13T, 13W, 13H, 13F) | 13 weeks | 15 hours |
| First 12-week (12A) | 12 weeks | 14 hours |
| Second 12-week (12M, 12T, 12W, 12H, 12F) | 12 weeks | 14 hours |
| 10-week (10) | 10 weeks | 12 hours |
| First 8-week (8AM, 8AT, 8AW) | 8 weeks | 10 hours |
| Second 8-week (8BM, 8BT, 8BW) | 8 weeks | 10 hours |
| 6-week (6A) | 6 weeks | 8 hours |
| First 5-week (5A) | 5 weeks | 7 hours |
| Second 5-week (5B) | 5 weeks | 7 hours |
| Third 5-week (5C) | 5 weeks | 7 hours |
| First 4-week (4A) | 4 weeks | 6 hours |
| Second 4-week (4B) | 4 weeks | 6 hours |
| Third 4-week (4C) | 4 weeks | 6 hours |
| Fourth 4-week (4D) | 4 weeks | 6 hours |
| semester | Calendar weeks | max credit hours |
|---|---|---|
| Mini Semester (3) | 3 weeks | 3 hours |
| Weekend Semester (1WF, 1WS) | 12 weeks | 14 hours |
| Full Semester (1M, 1T, 1E, 1H, 1F) | 10 weeks | 12 hours |
| First 5-week (5AM, 5AT, 5AW) | 5 weeks | 7 hours |
| Second 5-week (5BM, 5BT, 5BW) | 5 weeks | 7 hours |
| 8-week (8) | 8 weeks | 10 hours |
| Second 8-week (8A) | 8 weeks | 10 hours |
| 11-week (11) | 11 weeks | 13 hours |
| 12-week (12) | 12 weeks | 14 hours |
| 13-week (13) | 13 weeks | 14 hours |
what if i go over my max hours?
Our Advising, Career & Transfer Office will run reports to identify if you are registered over the maximum hours. We will drop the last courses you registered for until the maximum number of hours is reached. You will be notified by email of any dropped courses. Under certain circumstances, you may be eligible for an exception and allowed to enroll in more credit hours than the maximum allowed. You can request an exception to explain why extra credits are required.
Schedule and Study Guidelines
If you are taking a three-credit-hour course, you should plan on six hours of study time outside of class per week. This makes the total class commitment nine hours per week (3 hours of class time and 6 hours of study time outside of class).
Classes taken in shorter semesters will require more class time and outside time per week. For example, a three-credit-hour class in an 8-week semester will require 18 total class commitment hours per week (6 hours of class time and 12 hours of study time outside of class).
get in touch
Have questions? Contact us at 281-998-6150 or Information@sjcd.edu.
