Last semester, I took my first required courses that counted for less than four units. But I quickly realized that less units doesn’t mean less work.

My first two-unit elective was “Beginning Piano.” The class was fun and we had minimal homework and tests. Because of that, I was under the impression that two-unit classes were designed to mitigate students’ course load by providing a unique way to academically explore diverse topics without major stressors.

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While this may be true for some courses, I realized that I was sorely mistaken to generalize this to all non-four-unit classes. Some of my courses are not your standard four-unit courses, especially for journalism. I took “Reporting and Writing I” and “Introduction to Financial Accounting” for three units, “Visual Journalism” for two units, and a “Reporting and Writing Practicum” for one unit. These are only worth nine units combined — in fact, most semesters, I end up taking six classes for just 18 units. 

Especially for “Reporting and Writing I,” “Financial Accounting” and “Visual Journalism,” I didn’t think the units reflected the amount of time and effort I put into the classes. For example, outside of the 100 minutes of class, I easily put in four to six hours of work per week for “Visual Journalism.” I had to report events, record, write, interview, take pictures and edit. 

While this was supposed to be an introductory course, it took up enough of my time to be a 400-level class. Moreover, my other non-four-unit courses were equally demanding. In the end, it became difficult to balance my six classes, work, extracurriculars and my social life. 

Andrew Bawiec, a junior majoring in environmental studies, has also taken multiple two-unit classes ranging from improv to a magic class. “Global Climate Negotiations,” however, he said should have been a four-unit course.

“When you have a class that’s meeting once a week for 120 minutes maximum, that gets a little difficult when you’re talking about something as big as global climate negotiations,” Bawiec said.

On the other hand, while I don’t believe the quantitative units reflect class difficulty in most cases, non-four unit courses are a great way to help students graduate in time. 

As a journalism and business major, I have to complete around 172 units compared to the standard 128 units. While I can complete this within my four years here thanks to my Advanced Placement credits from high school, this would be virtually impossible if some of my required classes weren’t less than four units. 

David Martinez, a senior majoring in public policy, had a similar experience in a sign language class for two units. While Martinez says the class should have been worth more, he saw the benefit in the two-unit designation.

“Having it as two units is better since it allows me to put it into the schedule and still have it at the 18-unit cap,” Martinez said.

The USC unit system isn’t perfect. The structure allows students to take necessary classes, given their tuition rate since 12 to 18 units are the same price for undergraduate students. However, this may cause burnout as students with demanding schedules and mandatory low-unit classes have to take more classes in a shorter period of time.

“I like that two units can be flexible,” Bawiec said. “But I think in terms of requiring it for certain classes … if you’re going to need to take 18 units every single semester in order to graduate with your degree, that’s a little problematic, because everyone gets burnt out.”

The course unit system should reflect the time that students invest in their classes, and it needs to balance students’ ability to graduate on time while not being burdensome. Whether you take a two-unit class as a fun addition to your busy schedule or as a requirement for your major, the amount of work you put in should be recognized on your transcript.