College Planning for Adults
The placement test determines your academic level and provides you with your scores and a list of basic courses that you have placed into.
At some schools, the placement test recommendations are mandatory; at other schools they are not.
Developmental Courses (Also Known As Remedial Courses)
Developmental classes help students brush up on basic skills like reading, writing, and math so students will be prepared for college level work.
There are some very important things to know about Developmental level courses.
- Most institutions do not offer credit towards a degree for these classes. You may, however, receive institutional credit.
- Developmental classes are not free. They may not be as expensive as credit bearing classes but they still cost some amount of money.
- You can use your Pell Grant to pay for these classes but be careful. You can apply for a Pell Grant every year but you may not receive the grant every year. Eventually the grant money runs out. You should try to use most of your Pell Grant on classes that get you credit towards a degree.
- If you placed into the highest level developmental class, you should take it. Most students who enroll in the developmental courses they’re supposed to take usually do better in college than those who don’t.
- If you are placed in the lowest level developmental class, you should consider looking into local adult education programs. You might be able to take a similar class but for free or for much less money.
These programs are located in the community or in many cases, right on the campus. It’s a good way to save some money because adult education programs generally offer free or low fee classes.
Credit Bearing Courses
For each degree or certificate you will need to accumulate a certain number of credits. This varies from college to college. At some colleges you might need 60 credits to get an Associates degree, at others you might need 96 credits. The Course Catalog will tell you how many credits you need for each degree, which classes are necessary for the degree, and how many credits each class is worth.
Each course you take will have a certain number of credits attached to it. The number of credits usually represents the number of class hours each week.
Example 1)
Math 101 – 3 credits: This means that you will most likely spend three hours a week in this Math class.
Example 2)
Biology 210 + Lab – 4 credits: This means that the Biology class is three hours long. The additional hour is spent in a Biology Lab class working on experiments.
Sometimes you’ll see one or more of these words in the Course Catalog next to a course: Click on each word to see what it means.
Mandatory/Requisite Class – A class that is necessary in order to get your degree.
Example:
In order to get an Associates of Arts in Business, you must take Business Math.
Prerequisite (prereq.)Class – A class that is required in order to take another class.
Example:
Algebra is a prerequisite for Calculus.
Biology is a prerequisite for Anatomy.
Elective Class – A class where the subject is not necessary for degree completion but its credits are. Most colleges offer elective courses to students so that they have an opportunity to take classes outside of their field of interest.
Example:
A Nursing student can take an Art class as an elective class rather than a Science class.
A Computer Science student can take a English Literature class as an elective rather than another computer programming class.
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