The unit of credit used in Rutgers registration is based in part upon a measure of time, with 1 credit equal to one class hour a week through a 15-week term. For a 3-credit course, a qualified and competent student should require, on average, nine hours a week (in and out of classroom or lab) to carry out the work expected. One credit of laboratory requires three class hours of work per week. A full-time program is defined by the university as 9 credits per term. The maximum program is normally 15 credits, although under some circumstances registration for a maximum of 18 credits is permitted with approval of the dean. Fellows and assistants also must register their appointments according to directions provided by the registrar at the time of registration and submit form RT100 to the Office of Student Accounts.
Students with part-time employment outside the university who average 16 or more hours per week may not register for more than 9 credits per term, and students employed 30 or more hours per week may not register for more than 6 credits per term.
In interpreting conflicts about program limits, the dean's office generally regards 35 to 40 hours a week as a full-time commitment, whether in a nonuniversity job or a full-time student's program of study. The university assumes that the enthusiastic participant is apt to devote well above this amount of time, and that formal commitments of time become more difficult to make as they approach the upward limit of 18 credits.
