Courses in College

When it comes to taking college classes, a certain degree of planning and forethought is required. Different schools have different requirements to earn a degree, and most colleges do not offer all required courses every semester. This is why you must be very careful about planning your course selection to ensure you get all the credits and core classes you need.

Core classes are the main part of any degree, but most colleges – both community colleges and universities – also require their students to take some elective courses. In some cases, students are required to take electives from certain categories, but the beauty of elective courses is that you can choose which ones to take. However, even if your degree does not require any electives, you should still consider taking some because they can be very valuable for your education.

This video offers advice on how to choose your electives.

What Are Elective Courses?

The courses you must take for your degree are typically referred to as core classes. These are the classes that every student must take to receive that particular degree. Elective classes are extra classes that may count toward your degree but may not be directly related to the degree program you are in. You might choose to take elective courses that complement your degree or use them to explore another subject you think you might like.

This

Most college students want to spend their winter, spring, and summer breaks relaxing and having fun with friends and family. However, the grind of going to class, doing homework, and studying for tests can take its toll as the semester goes on. However, for students who wish to get ahead, those who need to make up some credits because of a bad grade here and there, or those who have work or family obligations, taking courses during these breaks is a smart choice.

Many community colleges recognize the appeal of taking courses while regular classes are not in session. Summer courses are the most popular, with many community colleges offering just as many classes during the summer session as they do during the regular school year. Some community colleges have seen double-digit increases in summer enrollment over the last few years, fueling an ongoing expansion of course schedules to accommodate increasing demand. However, many colleges also offer courses during shorter breaks, particularly during spring and winter.

In recent years, colleges nationwide have also begun offering alternative options for earning college credit. Some schools have opened pathways for students to receive credit for their experiences at what they've accomplished in life. Other institutions allow students to test out of specific courses instead of enrolling in higher-level classes. Still, other colleges offer college credit to students who perform community service or study abroad. In short, community colleges offer their students a broad array of possibilities for earning credits

In an effort to boost graduation rates among community college students in their state, the California Community College Chancellor’s Office, with funding from the state legislature, will implement the Online Education Initiative (OEI) this fall. The central tenet of the OEI is to expand course offerings and related online services to help students obtain a degree or facilitate transfer to another California institution for matriculation. For years, budget cuts have greatly impacted the course offerings of the state’s community college system, leaving hundreds of thousands of potential students shut out of the system. State education officials hope that this new online portal will open the doors to those students. It is also hoped that expanded access to courses will improve student retention and thus lead to more degrees and certificates being conferred, particularly among underserved and underrepresented populations in the state.

Particulars of the Californhttps://cvc.edu/about-the-exchange/ia Community College Online Education Initiative

The OEI will operate under a single delivery modality called the Online Education Ecosystem. This centralized online portal would essentially leverage the power of all member institutions to deliver a highly robust online learning experience that would be difficult for individual institutions to develop and deploy on their own. The system will be built on the existing foundation of the California Virtual Campus, which provides information about online courses offered throughout the state. At present, the system includes 24 of California’s 112 community colleges. Each of the 24 institutions is currently engaged

In 2012, the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology issued a dire warning that if the United States did not boost programming to produce one million more graduates in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), the nation would lose its status as the leader in those fields. Since then, several national science organizations, including the National Research Council, the National Academies of Sciences, and the National Academy of Engineering, have called on community colleges to lead STEM education to keep up with demand.

High on the list of priorities is preparing students early for STEM studies. Experts agree that children should be exposed to STEM career pathways in elementary school and should have continued exposure through their middle school and high school years. Classroom experiences are essential, but George Boggs, the CEO Emeritus of the American Association of Community Colleges, posits that visits to college campuses, involvement in research opportunities, advanced STEM studies in high school, science fairs, and summer camps are also necessary to get schoolchildren excited about careers in STEM.

This video illustrates that engineers, scientists, cybersecurity experts, and other STEM professionals are in demand.

According to Boggs, another critical component in devising successful STEM programs is developing curriculum articulation between high schools and community colleges to reduce the number of students taking remedial courses once they get to college. In math especially,

Each year students and colleges in the United States spend about $3 billion on remediation. Remedial courses, or college prep courses as they are known at some institutions, are required for students who do not meet pre-determined performance standards for admittance into a college-level course. Most often, community college students who require remediation need it in English or math, or both.

The most recent statistics on the matter are sobering: About half of all community college students are placed in remedial courses, which 40 percent of students never complete. Nearly 70 percent of these students never make it to a college-level math class either. Further compounding the problem is that adjunct faculty members, who typically have the least experience teaching needy populations and often suffer from a general lack of institutional support, teach approximately 75 percent of remedial courses offered at community colleges.

This video claims that remedial education costs community colleges billions.

This is a problem seen nationwide. Over 46 percent of college-bound students in Maryland need some form of remediation. In California, the need for remediation lengthens the time students need to attain an associate’s degree by one full year and adds 20 credits to their coursework. In Virginia, 77 percent of students in the state’s community college system that are referred to remedial math courses do not complete them within three years.