Students must complete at least 65 credit hours of the 86 credit hours required for graduation by attending regularly scheduled class sessions at the law school. See ABA Standard 311(a) and Interpretation 311-1.
“Regularly scheduled class sessions” include coursework at a law school where the student receives credit toward the Juris Doctor degree, classroom offerings at the law school, classroom offerings through an ABA-approved foreign study program and law school clinical offerings.
“Regularly scheduled class sessions” do not include:
- Classes taken for law school credit outside the law school, including classes taken by dual-degree students outside the law school for credit toward law school graduation.
- Independent studies.
- Externships.
- Co-curricular activities, including journals, moot court and trial competitions.
Regularly scheduled courses may or may not be pass/fail. Students are responsible for monitoring their schedules to ensure that they have at least 65 credit hours earned in regularly scheduled class sessions.
Course Credits & Student Workload, Including Class/Instruction Hours. The ABA regulates course credits. Credits are measures of a student’s total work hours as follows:
| Course Credits | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hours of Class or Direct Fac. Instruction & Exam (if any) Roughly 50-60 minutes per week per credit | 12.5 | 25 | 37.5 | 50 |
| Hours of Outside-Class Work (Estimated) Roughly 2 hours per week per credit | 30 | 60 | 90 | 120 |
| Total Hours (Estimated) | 42.5 | 85 | 127.5 | 170 |
Scheduling to Ensure Sufficient Total Hours. We schedule a course to have 13 class sessions on each weekday on which the course holds class. To compensate for holidays and such, we schedule “Magic Days,” on which a different weekday’s classes meet. (Please consult UNC Law’s academic calendar, always available and updated online.)
Consequently:
- A 1-credit course meets for 1 hour once weekly, totaling 13 instruction hours, which exceeds the required 12.5 hours even without counting an exam.
- A 2-credit course meets for 2 hours once weekly, totaling 26 instruction hours (2×13), which exceeds the required 25 hours even without counting an exam.
- A 3-credit course meets either:
- for 55 minutes thrice weekly, totaling 35.75 hours, requiring at least a 2-hour exam or equivalent to exceed 37.5 hours.
- for 85 minutes twice weekly, totaling 36.8 hours, requiring at least a 1-hour exam or equivalent to exceed 37.5 hours.
- A 4-credit course meets for 75 minutes thrice weekly, totaling 48.75 hours, requiring at least a 1.5-hour exam or equivalent to reach the required 50 hours.