semester hour
- noun
- /səˈmɛstər haʊər/
- US
:
hora de semestre
- This course is worth three semester hours, meaning it meets for one hour a week for the entire semester.
- semester hour of credit
- 12 semester hours
- 30 semester hours
Examples
-
Preferred: The class meets three times a week for three semester hours of credit.
Academic text (1990) -
The state requires teachers to complete 33 semester hours of college credit in the subject they are teaching.
Academic text (2006) -
Many individuals stated that they had more than 30 semester hours of dance training.
Academic text (1992) -
At the end of the senior year, twelve semester hours would be earned.
Academic text (1990) -
The class meets twice a week for one semester hour of credit.
Academic text (1990) -
The participants had just completed a 3-semester hour undergraduate mathematics methods course.
Academic text (2005) -
In doctoral programs, the range was from 0 to 37 semester hours, with a mean of 15 hours.
Academic text (1994) -
UI REACH students are full-time students who participate in a minimum of six semester hours of required core classes.
Academic text (2013) -
In Fall 2008, we added a 12 semester-hour Integrative STEM Education Graduate Certificate Program.
Academic text (2008) -
The NJCAA mandates academic progress every semester, with both semester hours earned and grade-point averages monitored.
Academic text (1990)
Synonyms
276
3.5
Recognition for finishing a course that counts toward a degree
3
3.5
One hour of class each week during a semester that counts toward a degree
1
3.4
An official record that a college gives for a completed course toward a degree
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'semester' (an academic term) combined with 'hour' (a 60-minute period) yields a unit of class time/credit per week in that semester. This noun-noun compound follows regular English formation and is a common academic concept cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can infer the meaning (though they may need context to realize it is a technical credit unit).
Etymology
Semester hour comes from how schools count class time: semester means half a school year and hour means one hour of class each week. So a course worth 'three semester hours' meets three hours a week during the semester and those hours count toward your degree.