Electrical & Computer Engineering Technical Reports

Document Type

Technical Report

Publication Date

8-16-2023

Abstract

This report presents a detailed analysis of the credit hour usage pattern of undergraduate students at the University of New Mexico (UNM) using custom analytical tools. We introduce a credit-tree framework for analyzing credit hour efficiency. This framework leverages a custom-built specialized audit tool for categorizing student credits. More specifically, student credits are assigned to one of three categories: unusable credits that do not match any degree requirement, excess credits that can be removed without changing the requirement satisfaction, and applied credits that contribute to requirement satisfaction without excess. Clearly, this enables credit analysis at the course and degree requirement level, which is crucial to understanding the factors influencing credit efficiency. Most degree-seeking undergraduate students at US universities graduate with a higher number of credit hours than is required for graduation, accumulating extra credits. The excess and unusable credit categories make up the extra credits. Extra credits can lead to increased time-to-graduation, increased cost of education, delayed entry into the workforce, lower graduation rates, etc., and are thus often believed to be undesirable (although it is not clear that all extra credits are undesirable or avoidable). Uncovering the factors responsible for extra credit accumulation has been a focal point of this study. Transfer credit loss, program (major) change, hidden (pre-requisite) requirements, repeated classes, remedial classes, financial incentives (to maintain scholarship), leisure classes, etc. are commonly cited as factors responsible for extra credits. This report extensively analyzes these conceptions. Transfer credit loss is given particular attention due to its widely perceived significance in extra credit accumulation. It should be noted that the methods described in this report are not specific to UNM data and can be generally used to perform credit efficiency analysis.

Comments

specialized audit tool, credit hour tree, extra credit categories, excess credits, transfer credit efficiency

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