Mar 19, 2024  
2020-2021 College Catalog 
    
2020-2021 College Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Glossary of College Terms


Associate Degree - The degree given for completing college programs of at least two but less than four years of study (60 credit hours or more), usually in a two-year institution such as a junior college or community college.

Certificate - An award for completing a particular program or course of study of 30 or more credit hours, sometimes awarded by two-year colleges instead of the associate degree.

Contact Hours - The total hours of lecture and laboratory instruction for each class. (Fifty instructional minutes equal one contact hour.) Tuition is charged per contact hour.

Co-requisite - A required course which, if not taken ahead of time, must be taken at the same time as another class.

Elective - A subject or course which is open to choose, i.e., a subject which is optional and not required.

Freshman - Class level for students with less than 30 completed credit hours in their program of study.

Full-Time Students - A student who is enrolled for 12 or more credit hours during fall or winter semesters, or six or more credit hours during summer session.

Humanities Elective - A course from the following subject areas: art, creative writing, history, humanities, literature, music, philosophy, and theatre.

Hybrid Course: A hybrid class combines classroom learning with online learning. In a hybrid course, a significant portion of the class learning activities are online, which reduces the amount of time spent in a traditional, face-to-face classroom. The class meets online and on campus

Online Course: An online course is defined as one for which all regularly scheduled classroom time is replaced by required activities completed at distance and managed online. An online class meets fully online with the exception of some test/exams where students may be required to go to an approved proctored site to take the test/exam.

Part-Time Student - A student who is enrolled for 11 or fewer credit hours during the fall or winter semester or five or fewer credit hours during the summer session.

Pre-requisite - A requirement for registration in a particular course. For example, Calculus I is a prerequisite for Calculus II.

Science Elective - A course from the following subject areas: astronomy, biology, chemistry, geology, or physics.

Social Science Elective - A course from the following subject areas: anthropology, economics, geography, political science, psychology, and sociology.

Sophomore - Class level for students with 30 or more completed credit hours in their program of study.