Academics · Adult Learning · Planning

168 hours, less
everything else,
is your study time.

List what already fills your week. The calculator takes it away from 168 hours, shows what is left for school, and checks it against what your planned courses will ask of you, before you register.

Find my hoursWhat you get

The study time calculator

The worked example is made up: a working parent planning two courses. Nothing you type leaves this browser.

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What you get

Academics · Adult LearningFree

What you finish with
Your free hours a week and a day, what your course load asks for, the slack or shortfall, the most credits your free hours would carry, and your week as a chart and table. It prints as a summary and downloads as a spreadsheet.
Who it is for
Adult learners, working students and parents returning to school, deciding how many courses to take.
Format
Browser calculator for a phone, tablet or computer, by touch or keyboard. Up to 20 commitments. Prints a summary; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); export and import a file.
Access
Free. No account, no sign-in and nothing to install. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Adult Learning space in Caveat Academics.
Support
Questions, a correction or a request: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Type how much you sleep a night.
  2. Add each fixed commitment in hours a week, including some rest.
  3. Type the credits you plan to take.
  4. Read the free hours and the slack or shortfall.
  5. Print the summary or download the spreadsheet.

Find my hours

How the hours are worked out

The week, less what is spoken for, against the credit hour.

The worked example: a working parent taking two coursesA week168 h7 × 24Spoken for− 143 h49 asleep + 94 committedFree25 habout 3.6 a day6 credits ask for18 h6 × (1 in class + 2 outside)The worked example: a working parent taking two coursesA week168 h7 × 24Spoken for− 143 h49 asleep + 94 committedFree25 habout 3.6 a day6 credits ask for18 h6 × (1 in class + 2 outside)
After sleep and fixed commitments the week has 25 free hours; two three-credit courses ask for about 18 of them.

The arithmetic

A week has 168 hours. Sleep a night times seven and every commitment you list are taken away; what is left is free. The federal definition of a credit hour, used by accredited colleges, assumes about one hour of class and at least two hours of work outside class each week for every credit in a semester, so a three-credit course asks for about nine hours a week.

Making it hold

Estimates of time spent tend to run low, so track a real week before you trust the list. Courses differ: labs, writing-heavy courses and accelerated eight-week terms ask for more per week. Planning to use every free hour leaves nothing for the weeks when work or family takes more.

Sources

  1. U.S. Department of Education, 34 CFR 600.2: definition of a credit hour (one hour of classroom instruction and a minimum of two hours of out-of-class work each week).
  2. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. American Time Use Survey (bls.gov/tus): how adults spend their time.
  3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. How much sleep do I need? (cdc.gov/sleep): at least 7 hours for adults.
  4. National Center for Education Statistics. Characteristics of working and part-time students, Condition of Education (nces.ed.gov).

The worked example is made up. The figures are your own estimates. Your week stays in this browser. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.