Oct 31, 2024  
2023 - 2024 Catalog 
    
2023 - 2024 Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

System of Numbering Courses


Courses are designated by a name and number along with a descriptive title. The name generally denotes the department in which the course is offered. Course numbers generally include three digits, with the first digit indicating academic level and the second digit indicating semester credit hours. The remaining digit is a distinguishing number for individual courses.

First digits of 1 or 2 denote lower-division courses designed primarily for the freshman and sophomore year, whereas first digits of 3 or 4 denote upper-division courses designed primarily for the junior or senior year. A first digit of 5 or 6 denotes graduate courses. A first digit of 7 indicates a course offered through the honors program.

Following the course title, related information appears in parentheses. The first figure indicates semester-hour credit; the second figure indicates the number of lecture hours per week; the third figure indicates the number of hours per week during which the student is in laboratory, practice session, or other activity related to the course. As an example, (3:1:5) following VART 238 indicates a three semester-hour credit course with one lecture hour and five studio hours per week.

TLU defines one credit hour as equivalent to one hour of classroom or direct faculty instruction and a minimum of two hours out of class student work each week for approximately 15 weeks. One credit hour is equivalent to three hours of lab sessions per week for labs in athletic training, business, kinesiology, natural sciences, nursing, and social sciences and two hours per week for visual arts studio courses and kinesiology activity courses. One credit hour is also defined as the equivalent of four hours per week of rehearsal for music performance courses, ten hours per week of clinical experience for athletic training practicum courses, or fifteen hours of applied participation in dramatic media productions.