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What type of credit is offered for basic writing courses?

If basic writing courses do offer credit, there are many different kinds of credit that can be earned because institutions have different ways to structure graduation requirements. The terminology can be confusing and may change from institution to institution. In an article in The Journal of Higher Education from 1962, Margaret F. Lorimer hits the issue on the head when she says, “The credit hour as it is now employed in colleges and universities is at best an ambiguous symbol” (306).

A general list of the different types of credit that can be earned follows.

Academic Credit:

This is a term that is often used in educational journals, on college websites, and in college catalogs. This term actually does not distinguish among the forms of credit that are most frequently used. John D. Finnegan, in “Crediting Options for Postsecondary Remediation: A Critical Analysis,” describes academic credit as “any system that grants grade point credit, graduation credit, or both” (56). This term is used to refer to all of the following types of credit:

Graduation Credit:

This refers to hours or grades towards graduation.

• Could refer to hours that count towards graduation but grades that do not contribute towards grade point average.
• Could refer to grades that contribute towards overall grade point average, but hours that do not count towards graduation.
• Could refer to both hours that count towards graduation and grades that contribute to grade point average.

Elective Credit:

This is type of graduation credit where credits can only be applied towards elective credit or “general studies” credit.

Institutional Credit:

Finnegan explains, “Institutional Credit refers to any crediting system that grants neither grades nor hours towards graduation credit” (56). In other words, if credit is granted, it does not apply towards fulfillment of major requirements, minor requirements, general studies requirements, or hours towards graduation requirements. Institutional credit also means that grades do not count towards cumulative grade point average. You may wonder why credit is earned if it does not count towards hours of graduation or grade point average. These ambiguous credit hours can be granted for financial reasons and may go towards student full-time equivalent (FTE) funding for the institution.