Most colleges, online or traditional, recommend that, for every credit hour students take, they spend three hours per week preparing for class. That means reading, completing assignments, and doing quizzes. For a full-time student taking 15 credit hours, for example, that would mean 45 hours preparing for class per week.

Despite these recommendations to students, the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) has found that the average student spends only 17 hours preparing for class per week and some majors study more than others. Check out the results in our newest infographic:

Infographic Statistics

The average college student spends almost 17 hours per week preparing for class.

Engineering majors study the most with 19.03 hours per week.

Biology, Agriculture, Natural Resources majors study an average of 18.41 hours per week.

Physical Science, Math, and Computer Science majors 18.23 hours per week preparing for class.

Arts & Humanities majors spend 17.56 hours per week preparing for class.

Health Professions majors spend 16.99 hours per week preparing for class.

Social Sciences majors spend 16.27 hours per week preparing for class.

Education majors spend 15.79 hours per week preparing for class.

Business majors spend 15.67 hours per week preparing for class.

Communications, Media & PR majors spend 15.09 hours per week preparing for class.

Social Services majors spend an average of 14.42 hours per week preparing for class.