A student attending classes three hours a day, five days a week for two semesters is considered a full-time student. Two semesters of classes is roughly 35 weeks. Three hours of instruction per day multiplied by five days a week multiplied by 35 weeks equals 525, which is how the 525 hours per student is derived. Therefore, community colleges' FTES is not a head count as it is in K through 12 schools, but rather a calculation of hours and instruction/attendance.
Community colleges must report the attendance of each class as well as a daily and weekly census on campus. Additionally, they report participation in distance education courses and internships/work study. Therefore, FTES calculation includes the number of enrolled students and actual contact hours of attendance divided by 525, which is the amount of hours considered as full-time enrollment.
In fiscal year 2007/2008, the state reimbursement for each credit FTES was $4,564.83 and $2,744.96 for each non-credit FTES. Rates are adjusted each year for cost of living allowance. Non-credit FTES reimbursements are less than credit FTES reimbursements because California Regulation Title Five mandates non-credit courses for employment improvement.
California reimburses state universities through student workload. Full Time Equivalent describes a student who takes a certain number of semester units. For example, FTE at California State University is a person taking at least 15 hours of instruction for one semester; at the University of California, it is 12 hours. This formula results in an increase in reimbursements.