ECTS stands for ‘European Credit Transfer System’.  It is a student-centered system based on the student workload required to achieve the objectives of a program, objectives preferably specified in terms of learning outcomes and competences to be acquired.  ECTS includes the amount of time and effort a student spends to study for a course besides the lecture hours spent in the classroom, such as homework, projects, seminars, independent study, etc.

ECTS was primarily developed to provide credit transfer and course equivalence. The system has facilitated the accreditation of studies conducted abroad and improved the quality and number of student exchanges in Europe.

ECTS constitutes a common ground for evaluating the course programs of local and international students.  It facilitates student mobility and academic recognition.  ECTS makes European higher education desirable for international students.

The allocation of ECTS credits is based on the official length of a study programme cycle.  ECTS is based on the principle that the workload of a full-time student during one academic year is 60 ECTS.  In a 2-semester system, one semester corresponds to 30 ECTS.  The total workload necessary to obtain a first cycle degree lasting officially three or four years is expressed as 180 or 240 credits, i.e. 3 or four years.

IZU has benefited from student surveys conducted at the end of the semester via the student information system in assigning ECTS to courses based on student workload. IZU has benefited from student surveys submitted at the end of the semester via the student information system in assigning ECTS to courses based on student workload. Participation in these surveys has been a prerequisite for students to be able to see their grades in the student information system. In these surveys, students were asked how much time they spend for studying/working for a given course; and the answers have been used as valuable information for measuring student workload objectively and realistically.

At IZU, each department has an ECTS coordinator.  This coordinator gives academic and administrative support in determining and updating the ECTS credits of the department’s curriculum, and assisting in the course selection of outgoing and incoming students. 

ECTS/Erasmus departmental coordinators:  ECTS_DEPT._COORDINATORS-DEC._6_2011.pdf