Seat time refers to measuring educational progress by hours spent in instruction rather than demonstrated mastery. Some states require homeschoolers to document instructional hours, while the broader education system is moving toward competency-based alternatives.
What is Seat Time?
Seat time is the practice of awarding academic credit based on how long students spend in class rather than what they've actually learned. The concept originated with the Carnegie Unit in 1906, which defined one unit as 120 hours of classroom instruction. This became the standard for measuring educational progress: complete the required hours, receive the credit. Critics point out the obvious flaw—sitting in a classroom for an hour doesn't guarantee learning occurred during that hour. Still, seat time remains embedded in many educational systems and some homeschool regulations.
Key Takeaways
- Based on the Carnegie Unit (1906): 120 hours = 1 credit
- Measures time, not learning—a student can pass by attendance rather than mastery
- Some states require homeschoolers to document instructional hours or days
- All 50 states now permit some form of competency-based alternative to seat time
- Education reform is steadily moving away from seat time toward mastery-based approaches
State Homeschool Hour Requirements
Why Seat Time Is Controversial
The fundamental criticism is simple: time spent doesn't equal learning achieved. A student who masters algebra in 40 hours and one who needs 120 hours both receive the same credit under seat time systems—there's no recognition of the first student's efficiency or mechanism to ensure the second actually learned the material. Seat time also fails to credit learning from internships, online courses, self-study, or community programs. For homeschoolers especially, the rigid hour counting ignores one of home education's greatest strengths: the ability to move at each child's pace.
Documenting Hours (When Required)
If your state requires hour documentation, several approaches work. Paper calendars with checkmarks for attendance and hash marks for hours work fine. Spreadsheets offer more flexibility. Digital tools like My School Year, Homeschool Planet, and HomeTrail generate reports automatically. Count all educational activities—field trips, reading, projects, music practice—not just "desk time." The Carnegie Unit standard translates to 120-180 hours per high school credit. Even in states without requirements, keeping records can help with transcripts and college applications.
The Shift to Competency-Based Education
Education is moving away from seat time. New Hampshire eliminated the Carnegie Unit in 2005, requiring districts to award credits based on demonstrated mastery. As of 2023, all 50 states permit some form of competency-based learning. The Carnegie Foundation itself—originator of the seat time standard—announced an initiative in 2022 to replace the unit with modern achievement measures. Under competency-based systems, learning is the constant and time is the variable: students advance when they demonstrate mastery, regardless of how long it takes.
The Bottom Line
Seat time represents an industrial-era approach to education that's increasingly out of step with what we know about learning. For homeschoolers, it can feel particularly arbitrary—why should counting hours matter when you can directly observe your child's understanding? If your state requires hour documentation, treat it as an administrative task rather than a meaningful measure of education. Meanwhile, the broader movement toward competency-based learning validates what homeschool families have long practiced: moving at the learner's pace and measuring success by what students can do, not how long they sat.
