Program Information

Improvement to Academic Programs

The school reviews its academic programs on a regular basis to ensure relevancy with current employment requirements and market needs. As deemed appropriate, the school may change, amend, alter or modify program offerings and schedules to reflect this feedback. If you have questions about this process, contact the Academics department. 

Credit Ascription

CalSouthern recognizes a credit hour to be based on the amount of work required to meet intended learning outcomes and verified by evidence of learner achievement. This is in line with the Federal definition of a credit hour, as follows:

A credit hour is an amount of work represented in intended learning outcomes and verified by evidence of student achievement that is an institutionally-established equivalency that reasonably approximates not less than:

(1) One hour of classroom or direct faculty instruction and a minimum of two hours of out-of-class student work each week for approximately fifteen weeks for one semester or trimester of credit, or ten to twelve weeks for one quarter hour of credit,

(2) At least an equivalent amount of work as required in paragraph (1) of this definition for other academic activities as established by the institution, including laboratory work, internships, practica, studio work, and other academic work leading to the award of credit hours.

Additional considerations from verbiage accompanying the Federal credit hour definition, taken from Enclosure A of the October 29, 2010, Department of Education member Gen-11-06:

• In the case of distance education and correspondence education, academic engagement would include, but not be limited to, submitting an academic assignment; taking an exam; an interactive tutorial, or computer-assisted instruction; attending a study group that was assigned by the institution; contributing to an academic online discussion; and initiating contact with a faculty member to ask a question about the academic subject studied in the course.
• Merely logging into the electronic classroom does not constitute academic engagement.

CalSouthern’s Credit Hour Policy is a consolidation of these Federal statements and applies equally to courses of varying credits, duration, and degree levels.

Credit Hour Policy

Learners in CalSouthern courses should expect to dedicate the approximate times below towards academic activity:

• 16.88 hours per week for an eight-week, 3-semester credit course
• 8.44 hours per week for a 16-week, 3-semester credit course

Courses that vary from the 3-semester credit hour format may have additional or reduced hours of academic activity as defined by the Credit Ascription policy.

Course Numbering System

The letters denote the area in which the course is offered. For example, ‘PSY’ is the abbreviation for ‘psychology’. The numbers denote the level of study. For example: PSY 3409—the course is an undergraduate, upper division psychology course.

Credits/Semester System

Credits for a course are a means of measuring a learner’s progress in an academic program and represent the standards for the amount and quality of work required in a course. CalSouthern awards credit based on a semester system. Most courses are 3 semester credits unless otherwise specified. 

Semester and Term Length

Academic semesters are 16 weeks in duration. Term lengths are eight weeks for the School of Behavioral Sciences, School of Business and Management, School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, School of Education, and the School of Nursing.

Academic Program Course Schedules (Sequence)

CalSouthern programs are designed to progress learners through the program by following specific course sequences that increase in complexity and are cumulative to prepare the learner for further coursework. Learners are pre-registered for the courses required in their respective programs according to the established program course sequence. Electives are also pre-registered in learner schedules and learners may work with their Academic Advisor if they want to change elective selections. Any courses requiring pre-approval will not be pre-registered and, instead, will be added to learner schedules following the receipt of the approval as required within the degree program. Registration requests for courses out of the sequence order must be approved by an authorized academic official. Any courses requiring prerequisites must have all prerequisites met before starting the course.

Minimum Residency Requirements

Minimum enrollment requirements to be completed at CalSouthern to earn a degree are as follows: