Semester System and Units

Merced College classes follow the semester system, and the majority of classes cover a period of 16 weeks. Students earn the number of units specified in the catalog upon successful completion of the course.

At Merced College, as in universities, a “unit” represents one hour per week for one semester of the student’s time in a lecture class, or three hours in laboratory or other exercise class not requiring homework for preparation. A normal schedule of 15 college units presupposes that the average student will devote approximately 45 hours per week to college classes and to preparation.

Because varsity sports require no academic homework assignments, they require 10 hours per week of activity for three units of credit. There are also certain courses that are regulated by outside agencies (primarily for skill certification in vocational areas) in which additional mandated hours are required but for which additional student units are not awarded.