Student Classification and General Course Information

Student Classification

Undergraduate students are classified according to the number of hours of college credit they have earned:

Post-baccalaureate students are those who hold a bachelor’s degree or higher from an accredited institution and are not enrolled in a graduate program or degree-seeking undergraduate program, but are enrolled in undergraduate classes.

Degree-seeking graduate students are those who have earned a bachelor’s degree and have been accepted to The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley for graduate study in Master’s or Doctoral programs. Non-degree seeking graduate students are those who have earned a bachelor’s degree and are taking graduate courses for professional or academic improvement including achievement of higher grades.

General Course Information

Undergraduate classroom course information, including a list of courses to be offered each semester, syllabi (including textbook information) and faculty curriculum vita of each regular instructor, may be accessed through the ASSIST portal found at the my.utrgv.edu (Texas Education Code, Section 51.974). The information concerning the classes offered by each department (or college for interdisciplinary courses) can be found online. The listing includes the following information:

• Student Learning Outcomes: Each degree program has identified learning outcomes that it expects its graduates to achieve by the end of the program. These student learning outcomes are reflected in the courses offered by the program.
• Course Number, Title and Contact Hours: If the course has defined weekly contact hours, these will be shown in brackets [ ] following the course title, with lecture hours first, laboratory hours second and clinical hours, if any, third. These contact hours are for the fall and spring semesters. Summer weekly contact hours will be adjusted according to the length of the summer session. (See Glossary of Terms for more information and example.)
• Instructional Mode: Each class will include the mode by which instruction will be offered, which may include but is not limited to face-to-face instruction, online instruction, interactive video, or a combination of those. 
• Course Numbers: Courses are numbered to show both the collegiate level at which they are offered and the hour value of the course. The first digit shows the level, and the second digit shows the credit hours. The last two digits are departmental designations. For example, Spanish 1301 shows that the course is taught at the freshman level and carries three hours of credit per semester. All lower-division undergraduate courses ending in the numbers 87 and 88 are honors courses.
  • 0000 courses are developmental level, lower division
  • 1000 courses are freshman level, lower division
  • 2000 courses are sophomore level, lower division
  • 3000 courses are junior level, upper division
  • 4000 courses are senior level, upper division
  • 5000-7000 courses are master’s level
  • 8000-9000 courses are doctoral level
  • 8000-8499 courses are associated with the first year of medical school
  • 8500-8999 courses are associated with the second year of medical school
  • 9000-9499 courses are associated with the third year of medical school
  • 9500-9999 courses are associated with the fourth year of medical school