Academic Policies

Academic Calendar

The College of Western Idaho (CWI) operates on the semester system. The academic year includes two 16-week semesters (fall and spring) and an 8-week summer term. See the academic calendar page for important dates.

In addition to 16-week semester-length courses, CWI offers shorter courses in 8-week, 5-week, and 4-week sessions. Day, evening, weekend, and online courses are available in order to meet the needs of students who have work or family responsibilities.

Credit Hour Requirements

For each credit hour granted, students must have successfully met the academic requirements with an amount of work represented in intended learning outcomes and verified by evidence of student achievement that reasonably approximates not less than:

• 12.5 clock hours of classroom or direct faculty instruction and a minimum of 25 clock hours of out-of-class student work; or
• At least an equivalent amount of combined in-class and out-of-class clock hours for other academic activities as established by CWI including laboratory work, clinicals, internships, practicum, and other academic work leading to the award of the appropriate number of credits.

CWI courses align with credit hours in the following manner:

The expectation of contact time with the instructor and student effort outside the classroom is the same in all formats of a course regardless of modality. Courses with less structured classroom schedules, such as workshops, research seminars, independent studies, internships, practicum, studio work, or any other academic work leading to the award of credit hours, at a minimum, should state clearly the workload expectations that meet the standards set forth above.

Course Numbering

The following numbering system is used for all credit courses offered by CWI:

• Zero Level (000–099): Course content is considered below the college-freshman level. These courses are not applicable for graduation.
• One Hundred Level (100–199): Course content taught at the college-freshman level.
• Two Hundred Level (200–299): Course content taught at the college-sophomore level.
• Three Hundred Level (300-399): Course content taught at the college-junior level.
• Four Hundred Level (400-499): Course content taught at the college-senior level.

Student Class Level

The following number of completed credits determines a student’s class level:

Enrollment Status

Full-time Students: Degree-seeking students taking 12 or more credits per term.

Part-time Students: Degree-seeking students taking fewer than 12 credits per term.

Non-matriculated Students: Non-degree-seeking students.