Course Terminology and Classification

Clarification of Course Terminology in the Curriculum

Curricular Component Areas

Glossary of Terms

Note: Associate Degrees require a total of 60 credit hours and 24 - 25 credit hours of core requirements. The glossary terms otherwise applies to Associate Degrees as they do to Baccalaureate Degrees.

core requirements: courses taken to fulfill the Common Good and Discipline-Specific Core categories of the baccalaureate core curriculum, the total of which equals 46-49 credit hours

program requirements: all major courses, cognate courses, and prerequisite courses that must be completed to earn a degree in the program of study

general electives: courses taken that are not applied to the core requirements or to the program requirements a student must complete; these courses apply to the total of 120 credit hours a student must complete to graduate

major courses: courses required for the major program of study that have the same prefix as the major; students who double major will use the prefix of their first major only as their major prefix; students who complete dual-major programs will, for the purposes of course classification, treat the first discipline of the dual major as their major prefix (e.g., a Mathematics/Financial Economics dual major would use Mathematics as their major prefix, and Business Financial Economics requirements for the dual major would be treated as cognate courses.)

cognate courses: courses that are required for the major program of study but have a different prefix than the major.

prerequisite courses: courses a student must complete prior to registration in the next level course or for admission prior to taking selected courses.

recommended courses: courses that are not required for the major, however the department recommends that students take these courses.

Clarification of Course Classifications

Note: Associate Degrees require a total of 60 credit hours and 24 - 25 credit hours of core requirements. The course classifications otherwise apply to Associate Degrees as they do to Baccalaureate Degrees

Every student at the Mount typically must complete three component areas of study in order to graduate. These component areas are core requirements, program requirements, and general electives. In addition, a student must complete a total of 120 credit hours for a baccalaureate degree. Please note that while a course may be listed in more than one of the component areas, the credits only count once toward the 120 credit hours needed to graduate. The following guidelines are designed to help advisors assign courses within the three component areas. 

Liberal Arts and Sciences Electives outside the Student’s Major for Transfer Students Only:

• Courses for the Liberal Arts and Sciences Electives may include courses coded A, C, E, H, IDS, L, LAS, MA, MU, N, P, R, S,  or transfer equivalents. Cognate courses with these codes may be counted as Liberal Arts and Sciences electives. Liberal Arts and Sciences electives in the Mount’s curriculum CANNOT be taken for a Pass/Fail grade.
• Courses with a core code, which are being applied toward a second major or a minor, may be used as Liberal Arts and Sciences Electives, even if the courses are from the student’s major department.
• Transfer students with  more than 27 transfer credit hours are required to take additional credit hours of Liberal Arts and Sciences Electives, if needed to reach the minimum of 46 to fulfill the Core.

Each academic program lists its program requirements according to one of the following three general categories. These categories, and their application to the core requirements, are as follows:

1. Major courses: discipline-specific courses in this category may be applied to the Discipline-Specific portion of the core requirements only (note that students who double major will use the prefix of their first major as their major prefix).
2. Cognate courses: coded courses in this category may be applied to the Discipline-Specific core requirements.
3. Prerequisite courses: coded courses from this category may be applied to the Discipline-Specific core requirements.

Recommended courses are not part of students’ program requirements, and coded courses from this category may be applied to the Discipline-Specific core requirements.