Tag: class

Class Level

Undergraduate Students

Class level is determined at the time of admission and at the end of each subsequent semester during which the student is enrolled based on the number of credits earned. Degree-seeking students are classified as follows:

For students following the 2024/2025 catalog year (or later):

  • Freshmen up to 29.5 credits completed or in progress
  • Sophomores 30 – 59.5 credits completed or in progress
  • Juniors 60 – 89.5 credits completed or in progress
  • Seniors 90 or more credits completed or in progress

For students following the 2023/2024 catalog year (or prior):

  • Freshmen up to 29.5 credits completed or in progress
  • Sophomores 30 – 62.5 credits completed or in progress
  • Juniors 63 – 92.5 credits completed or in progress
  • Seniors 93 or more credits completed or in progress

All students, regardless of catalog year, will be eligible for assigned priority registration following the class levels defined for the 2024/2025 guidelines. 

Financial Aid eligibility will factor in a student’s current assigned catalog year to determine class level. 

Graduate Students

Class level is determined at the time of admission and at the end of each subsequent semester during which the student is enrolled based on the number of credits earned. Degree-seeking students are classified as follows:

  • First Year up to 29.5 credits completed or in progress
  • Second Year 30 – 60 credits completed or in progress

Credit Hours

College for Creative Studies uses credit hours as a general measure of academic work and progress toward degrees at both the Undergraduate and Graduate level. The College’s use of credit hours complies with standards established by our accrediting bodies and is consistent with generally accepted practices of peer institutions across the nation. At CCS, one credit hour represents an average of at least three hours of work each week for a period of 15 or 16 weeks. Most classes offered at CCS award three credit hours upon successful completion, hence an average of at least nine hours per week of classroom and outside work, totaling 135 hours in a 15 week semester is expected. For studio courses, three credit hours represents six hours of class time with an average of at least three hours of work outside of class each week. For lecture classes, including Liberal Arts, three credit hours represents three hours of class time with an average of at least six hours of work outside of class each week. Workloads may vary from class to class, depending upon the period during the semester, but students should expect to commit to an average of at least nine hours of classroom and outside work per week for every three credit hour class taken.

During a 15 or 16 week semester students enrolled in a three credit hour independent study or a three credit fully online course are expected to commit to at least nine hours of work per week or 135 hours. Summer courses that are offered in a condensed term are scheduled to have the same number of classroom hours as a lecture or studio class of equal credit would have over a 15 week semester. Likewise the weekly expectation of outside of class work is adjusted so that the classroom and outside work totals at least 135 hours.

Students in the undergraduate program may complete more than 3 hours of effort per credit during an elective internship, a CCS travel class or Directed Teaching.

Class Audit

Students, graduates and visitors may audit a class on a space-available basis. No academic credit is awarded for audited courses. Those wishing to audit a course may register by adhering to the policy and following the procedures and guidelines listed below:

  1. Matriculating (B.F.A.) and nonmatriculating (e.g., visitors, CCS graduates) students who wish to audit a class must elect to do so at the time of registration by submitting a completed Audit Registration form, available in the Academic Advising and Registration Office.
  2. Students electing to audit a class may not register for that class until the first week of class for the semester. Students may not register for a class after the first week of any semester.
  3. Once the election has been made to audit a class, the student may not change the registration to receive credit for the class.
  4. Audited courses carry no credit and do not satisfy degree requirements. Upon completion of the course, the audit grade of X will appear on the student’s transcript. (The grade of X is not used in the calculation of cumulative grade point average or course completion rate.)
  5. Regular tuition rates are charged for audited courses. The refund policy for audited and credit courses is the same and is outlined in the Course Schedule.
  6. Matriculating (B.F.A.) students are permitted to audit one course each semester during their B.F.A. tenure at CCS, with a staff advisor’s approval.
  7. Nonmatriculating students (visitors, CCS graduates) are limited to three classes per semester.