Course Descriptions – Undergraduate and Graduate

The Jacksonville University catalog lists all academic courses alphabetically by discipline, then numerically within each discipline, with complete descriptions including credit hours, terms offered, contact hours per week, and required prerequisites. Example:

ACCT 202. Principles of Accounting II (3; F/S)

Three hours per week. Prerequisite: ACCT 201 and MATH 112 or MATH 140 with a "C" or better in the Mathematics course. A “C” or better must be earned in ACCT 201 and in ACCT 202 as a prerequisite for all upper-level accounting courses except ACCT 310. In addition, a “C” (2.0) or better is required in order to use this course as part of the core requirement for any business major. A continuation of ACCT 201. Topics covered include accounting for long-term liabilities, stockholders equity, the cash flow statement, job order costing systems, cost behavior analysis, cost-volume-profit analysis, budgeting, standard costs, differential analysis and variable costing. A spreadsheet project must be satisfactorily completed to pass this course.

ACCT = Accounting discipline

202 = sophomore level (see "Course Level Designations" section below)

Principles of Accounting II = course title

3 = three hours credit

F/S = offered fall and spring terms

A remedial class does not earn college credit when successfully completed and is designated with an "N" at the end of its course number, i.e. ENGL 100N. Courses that earn college credit, but do not fulfill the core requirement in the area, have a statement in the course description, i.e. MATH 100.

Courses offered in a given semester are indicated, using the following codes:

  • F = fall semester
  • S = spring semester
  • F/S = fall and spring semester
  • EVEN or ODD = May be listed after F or S to indicate a specific fall or spring semester.

Courses listed with no semester code may be those courses usually, but not always, offered in fall and/or spring semesters, or may be those courses offered on an occasional or infrequent basis as dictated by the resources of the individual departments.

Courses offered in summer generally include those that will satisfy the University Core Curriculum requirements, specific undergraduate and graduate major or program cohort courses, various study abroad courses, and elective courses.

Courses shown in brackets refer to prior course codes that have been changed; e.g. MGT 350 is now DSIM 350.

Course Level Designations*

Courses numbered 100 - 299 are considered lower division courses (i.e., should be taken in freshman and sophomore years). Courses numbered 300 - 499 are considered upper division courses, typically taken by juniors and seniors, or advanced sophomores who have the required prerequisites. Courses numbered 500 and above are graduate courses.

Lower-Division Courses (100-299)

Lower-division courses are courses which are offered at the 100- and 200- levels and have the following characteristics:

  • Lower-division courses generally do not have extensive college-level prerequisites (aside from preceding courses in the same sequence). They may require substantial secondary school preparation.
  • Lower-division courses usually are not limited to students majoring in the field in which the courses are offered.
  • Any lower-division course, assuming qualified staff and other resources are available, could be offered through a community college.
  • 100-level courses should be suitable for college freshmen.
  • 200-level courses are directed toward college sophomores, though they are open to qualified freshmen.

Upper-Division Courses (300-499)

Upper-division courses are courses which are offered at the 300- and 400-levels, and which require substantial college-level preparation on the part of the student. Ordinarily this should be indicated in the course description by a discussion of the recommended background which will describe to both students and advisors what is expected. Recommended background can be in indicated in several ways, among them:

  • Specifying particular University courses (or their equivalents) as required prerequisites which should have been completed prior to enrollment.
  • Specifying a certain number of credits in specified areas which should have been completed prior to enrollment.
  • Specifying the level of academic progress (such as junior or senior standing) or specifying a certain number of total college credits which should have been completed prior to enrollment.

Graduate-Level Courses (500-799)

Specific standards for graduate-level courses are established by individual graduate programs. See the relevant graduate student handbook for more information.

* Note: The previous description has been adapted with permission from the course levels policy statement developed by the University of Washington. (depts.washington.edu/registra/curriculum/assigningCourseNumbers)