Paul Hill, chancellor of the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission, speaks Monday to the Legislature’s Joint Standing Committee on Education. Hill said college students must take at least 15 credit hours per semester, not the previously required 12, to have any hope of graduating within four years.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — College students should be taking a minimum of 15 credit hours a semester to graduate on time, higher education officials in West Virginia said Monday.
The traditional standard has been 12 credit hours a semester, but Paul Hill, chancellor of the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission, said that number causes students to fall short of graduation requirements by a semester or more.
“There is not chance a student will graduate on time within four years without earning at least 15 credits per term or 30 credits per year,” he said. “It takes 120 degree credit hours to graduate. At 12 per term it only gives them 96 credits” at the end of four years.
Hill spoke Monday to the state Legislature’s Joint Standing Committee on Education, presenting information on the state’s “15 to Finish” initiative which encourages students, parents and colleges to move from a 12- to 15-credit-hour mindset.
National research has shown those taking the 15-credit-hour workloads have a higher chance of completing college, have better academic performance and pay less for college over the four-year period because they do not have to take additional classes or semesters to complete their degrees, Hill said.
Hill also said many colleges do not charge additional student tuition above the 12-credit-hour mark, making the additional class cheaper than if it was taken during a different semester.
At West Virginia University, the average time to graduate with a bachelor’s is 4.4 years, Hill said. At other state institutions the average is closer to five years, he said.
Students who do not graduate within four years also are less likely to graduate, he said.
“The longer a student stays in college, the more likely that something gets in the way of that student graduating,” Hill said.
West Virginia Code lists a fulltime student as one taking 12 credit hours per semester. Hill said officials are not seeking a change in code, but rather are using the 15 to Finish initiative as an “information campaign” to encourage students to take the higher classload and to give parents and school counselors more information on the benefits of the plan.
Hill said West Virginia is the 16th state nationally to implement the 15 to Finish initiative. The program is being paid for through a federal grant.
The program is not aimed at part-time students who may be forced to take 12 hours or less due to time or financial constraints, he said.
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