Course number
Encyclopedia
A course number is the number given to a course at college
or university
. There are several conventions
used at many institutions in North America
:
College
A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...
or university
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
. There are several conventions
Convention (norm)
A convention is a set of agreed, stipulated or generally accepted standards, norms, social norms or criteria, often taking the form of a custom....
used at many institutions in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
:
- Course numbers are three digits long.
- Numbers have a four-letter subject identifier preceding them; for example, CHEM for chemistryChemistryChemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
. - The hundreds digit of the number marks the relative difficulty of the course (the higher the more difficult). Very high levels may be used to mark graduateGraduate schoolA graduate school is a school that awards advanced academic degrees with the general requirement that students must have earned a previous undergraduate degree...
courses. - Introductory courses are usually numbered 101.
- Courses that are to be taken consecutively are often numerically close; for example, BIOL 101 and BIOL 102. Numerically close courses can also indicate equivalent courses that are taught differently.
- Ones digits indicate similar courses at different difficulties; for example, 364 is Introduction to Databases, while 564 is Database Design.
- Within a specific level, core courses are at lower numbers while specialized are at higher.