NSSE 2023 Data

Average Study Hours by College Major

How many hours do students actually study each week? Real survey data across 17 major categories, from the hardest-studying programs to the most relaxed.

22
Architecture
The most demanding major by study hours, averaging 22 hrs/wk outside class.
14
Median across all majors
The median college student studies about 14 hours per week. Far below the 2-3 hrs per credit guideline.
11
Arts and Criminal Justice
Arts and Criminal Justice students report the fewest outside-class study hours on average.
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Source: National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) 2023 Annual Results, Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research. Hours reflect student self-reported time spent studying and preparing for class in a typical week. Figures are approximate and may vary by institution selectivity and course level. CC BY 4.0

What the data actually means

NSSE asks a simple question: "In a typical week, how many hours do you spend preparing for class (studying, reading, writing, doing homework, analyzing data, rehearsing, and other academic activities)?" The answers reveal a consistent pattern that holds across years of data.

STEM fields study more, but not uniformly

Engineering, Physical Sciences, and Computer Science all land in the top half. But Biology (17 hrs) barely edges out Math/Statistics (16 hrs), and neither comes close to Architecture. The difference within STEM is substantial — a Computer Science student studies about 6 more hours per week on average than a Communications major.

The 2-3 hours per credit rule is largely theoretical

The traditional guideline says students should study 2-3 hours per credit hour per week. On a 15-credit semester, that's 30-45 hours of studying per week outside class. By NSSE data, almost no major actually hits that benchmark — even Architecture's 22 hours falls short for a full course load. Whether students are studying smarter, using better tools, or simply doing less than recommended is a genuine open question.

Health programs punch above their credit-hour weight

Nursing, pre-med tracks, and health professions consistently report higher study hours than their credit loads alone would suggest. Clinical preparation, anatomy-heavy coursework, and licensing exam pressure all pull study hours up. Nursing students at 16 hours per week study roughly the same as Math majors despite having very different course content.

Business and social sciences cluster in the middle

Business students average about 13 hours per week — meaningfully less than engineering (19 hrs) despite similar credit loads. Social science majors land in the same range. Whether this reflects easier coursework, less demanding professors, or more efficient studying is hard to say from survey data alone.

Cite this data

StudyEdge AI (2026). Average Study Hours by College Major. Retrieved from https://getstudyedge.com/study-hours-by-major. Data source: NSSE (2023). National Survey of Student Engagement 2023 Annual Results. Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research.

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