Everyone who starts in college wants to get finished as soon as possible; that’s normal. In regular universities there are always some students who try and take on too much of a workload, burying themselves in homework. But they’ve got advisors to help them plan their schedule and avoid overloading themselves.
What about an online education are there limits to how many classes one can take? That depends upon the policy of the school you choose to attend. But, the more important limiting factor is how much time you can afford to dedicate to your education.
When a college or university determines how many credit hours a class is, they do so based upon how many hours the students spend in the classroom per week. For example, a five credit hour class will typically meet five times a week (every day) for an hour; a three credit hour class will typically meet three times a week for one hour. There might also be some three credit hour classes, especially lab classes, which just meet once a week, but for three hours.
For each hour of classroom time the students spend, they are typically expected to spend 2 hours in study and homework. In other words, that three credit hour class isn’t really three hours per week, it’s nine hours per week. That’s a huge difference.
So, when you look at the course selections for your online university, you need to use this same guideline in determining how many hours a week you spend working on your college degree. If you are working as well, you may not be able to take on a full class load. Three classes, which are each three credit hours, will equal 27 hours of work per week, and that’s not considered a full load. Fifteen credit hours of courses is considered a full load, that’s equal to 45 hours a week of work.
Be sure to plan your time right. Overloading yourself is a sure plan for failure. Better to take longer, and get it right.