Course credits are intended to reflect the amount of work expected of the average student. Under Senate Regulation 760, "The value of a course in units shall be reckoned at the rate of one unit for three hours' work per week per term on the part of a student, or the equivalent." In general, one unit equals 15 contact hours per term, but unit values do not have to correspond exactly to the number of class hours. For example, a lecture class that meets three hours a week might, under campus guidelines, carry 2, 3, or 4 units of credit, so long as the student workload justifies the unit value. The primary responsibility for ensuring that workload corresponds to unit value rests with the instructor.

Most courses at Berkeley carry a fixed unit value, but some, such as self-paced courses, have a variable unit value.

last updated on 8/2/05