At DePaul, credit towards an undergraduate or graduate degree is accumulated on the basis of quarter hours (for College of Law, see the College of Law Handbook). The unit of credit is one quarter hour granted for 45 minutes of instructional time and at least two hours of additional assigned work each week, or an equivalent amount of work for other credit-bearing activities. The standard course extends over a ten-week period and a final examination week; courses that occur over a different time-period (e.g. in the summer or December quarter) must incorporate the same total amount of instructional time and additional assigned work per credit hour as a standard course. Undergraduate and graduate courses carry 4 quarter hours of credit unless otherwise specified. Credit is earned if a student receives an A through D, or PA grade. Undergraduate credit may also be earned through credit-by-examination and transfer credit. The School of Continuing and Professional Studies and the School of Nursing also may award credit based on assessment of prior learning. Some graduate programs may accept a limited number of transfer credits which is specified in the graduate program information.
Among other requirements specified in their respective catalogs, graduation with a bachelor’s degree requires that a student successfully complete a minimum of 192 quarter hours of college credit; graduation with a master’s degree requires that a student complete a minimum of 45 quarter hours of credit beyond the bachelor’s degree. The requirements for approved combined bachelor’s/master’s degree require at least 36 quarter hours of credit beyond the bachelor’s degree (with a minimum of 12 applicable graduate hours completed as part of the bachelor’s degree). Graduation with a doctorate degree will require the minimum number of quarter hours specified by the degree awarding department or college.