ECTS and US Credits

European Nazarene College follows the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS). This system is one of the key elements of the Bologna Declaration of 1999, signed by 45 countries, and intends to develop a comparable educational system across national boundaries. What is ECTS? ECTS is a student-centred system of giving credit to coursework. It is based on the number of student learning hours needed to accomplish the intended educational outcomes of a certain course and of the entire programme. The following link provides further information as provided by the European Union: http://ec.europa.eu/education/programmes/socrates/ects/index_en.html Student Learning Hours One ECTS is equivalent to 25-30 student learning hours. The student learning hours are all activities needed to accomplish the intended educational outcomes. These learning activities can be class sessions, reading, paper assignments, presentations, supervised learning activities, internships, mentoring, or any other activity that will help the student reach the intended educational outcomes. Course Load The regular courses at EuNC will be offered for 3 or 5 ECTS. The guideline for these courses is the following: 3 ECTS Course (75-90 Student Learning Hours) 20-30 Hours of class sessions 45-70 Hours of assignment, learning activities outside of class. 5 ECTS Course (125-150 Student Learning Hours) 30-40 Hours of class sessions 85-120 Hours of assignment, learning activities outside of class. Full Time and Part Time Studies The criterion for a year of full time studies is 60 ECTS (1500-1800 Student Learning Hours). Every level at EuNC consists therefore of 60 ECTS. EuNC off-campus locations that qualify for part-time location are required to have an annual course offering of 20-30 ECTS per year, so students need two to three years to complete the Spiritual Formation Certificate, and four to six years to complete the Christian Ministry Certificate. Off-Campus Locations that cannot meet this requirement will be listed as location where courses can be followed that can count towards a certificate from EuNC, but no guarantee is given that this will be possible at that location.

Comparison with US College Credit System The major difference between the ECTS and the US College Credit system is that the first is based on student load and the second on contact hours (Ground rule for US credit system is for every hour in class students need to spend two outside of class). The first is more oriented towards the students (the time required for them to meet the intended outcomes); the second towards the faculty (the time a faculty member needs to teach). Technically the ECTS has no co-curricular or extra-curricular activities because every activity needed to meet the intended outcomes of the programme is valued with a certain number of ECTS. Using an hour rate of 45 hours for 1 US College credit, the 240 ECTS of the Bachelor of Arts programme of EUNC is equivalent to 133-160 US College credits. The conversion used by EuNC between ECTS and US College Credit is the following: 1 ECTS = 0.6 US Credit Hour 2 ECTS = 1.2 US Credit Hour 3 ECTS = 1.8 US Credit Hours 4 ECTS = 2.4 US Credit Hours 5 ECTS = 3 US Credit Hours 1 US Credit Hour = 1.67 ECTS 2 US Credit Hours = 3.34 ECTS 3 US Credit Hours = 5 ECTS EuNC can generate transcripts in ECTS and US Credit.