A credit hour is a unit used by schools and colleges to measure academic credit. A course may be worth one, two, three, four, or more credit hours depending on workload, contact time, labs, and program rules.
Why credit hours matter
Credit hours help decide whether a student is full time or part time, how much tuition may cost, and how close the student is to completing a certificate, diploma, or degree.
Credit hour and transcript
Credit hours usually appear on an academic transcript. They can also affect GPA calculations because a higher-credit course may carry more weight than a lower-credit course.
In short, credit hours are the counting system behind many course loads and graduation requirements.