Page 235 - Crisis in Higher Education

206 • Crisis in Higher Education

TABLE 10.1
Credit Hours Required for Various Bachelor’s Degrees
Minimum Median Maximum
Number of Number of Number of
Semester Credit Semester Semester
Degree Hours a Credit Hours b Credit Hours c
Professional Degrees
Computer science 120 123 137
Education 120 124 172
Engineering 120 128 143
Nursing (4-year) 120 124 149
Social work 120 120 150
NonProfessional Degrees
Communications 120 120 128
Foreign language 120 120 128
History 120 120 141
Philosophy 120 120 130
Political science 120 120 128
Woman’s studies 120 120 128
Source: Complete College America, Program Requirements for Associate’s and Bachelor’s
Degrees: A National Survey, 2012. http://www.completecollege.org/docs/Program%20
Requirements%20- %20A%20National%20Survey.pdf
a The lowest number of credit hours among all universities responding to the survey.
b The midpoint of the data, such that half the data points are higher and half are lower
among all universities responding to the survey.
c The highest number of credit hours among all universities responding to the survey.

exams, or (3) gain admission to graduate school. Certification and licen-
sure exams are part of the reason why professional degrees tend to have
more student credit hours. For example, accounting is moving toward a
five-year program that requires 150 credit hours. Although applicants can
take the CPA exam with fewer hours, many states now require 150 semes-
ter hours of education, in addition to passing the CPA exam, to obtain a
CPA license. Upward pressure on the number of credit hours is easy for
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universities and faculty to support because it increases demand for their
services and generates more revenue.
When the “explosion of knowledge” argument is used to justify more
credit hours, the question is: When does it stop? The argument goes,
knowledge has expanded greatly over the past 50 years, so more credit
hours are justified. But it is likely that the next 50 years will generate even
more new ideas. Should another semester or year of study be added to a