Page 38 - 2017-2018 Academic Catalog

Student Course Load
A student must earn a minimum of 126 total credit hours to graduate from Providence Christian College. The student course load is ordinarily 15-16 credit hours per semester. Taking more than 16 credit hours should be done with the advice and consent of the student’s faculty adviser. Twelve credit hours is the minimum number for classification as a full-time student. Students who have been admitted provisionally may be required to register for fewer than 16 hours for their first semester at Providence. Students who have been placed on academic probation are restricted to a maximum of 14 hours per semester. Students must receive permission from their faculty adviser and the Registrar when enrolling in more than 18 credit hours per semester. Additional tuition charges will be incurred for each credit hour taken above 18 as well.
Student Classification
Students accepted as degree candidates are identified by class-level standing according to the number of credit hours earned. Students are classified as follows:
Freshman Sophomore Junior Senior
Registration for Classes
0 - 29 credits 30 – 60 credits 61 – 91 credits 92 + credits
Students who have confirmed their plans to attend Providence Christian College by submitting their enrollment deposit will receive pre-registration materials. Returning students will register in the spring. New students will register over the summer. Registration will be confirmed on registration day if final high school transcripts have been received. Typically freshman courses are selected primarily from the core requirements for graduation.
The factors governing course choices include:
1. Advanced college credit (e.g., AP courses) may eliminate the need to take certain courses.
2. Foreign language requirements may not have been met in high school and will have to be
fulfilled while at Providence.
3. Pre-college (remedial) courses in English and mathematics may be necessary for students
who enroll with inadequate preparation for success in the college courses required for
these areas. (ACT, SAT, or other assessment tests will determine the need.)
4. Some choice exists among certain core requirements (e.g., laboratory sciences).
5. Students in heavily loaded concentrations may need to begin taking courses in their
concentration during their freshman year.
6. Students planning to transfer to another college or university should select courses at
Providence, if possible, that will be accepted as graduation requirements (versus electives) in that institution. As part of the registration process, faculty advisers will review with students the catalogs of the colleges or universities to which they plan to transfer and advise course selection at Providence according to the core and major requirements at those institutions.
The first digit of a course number indicates the class level of the course. Freshmen have permission to take sophomore-level (200) courses, provided they have met the prerequisites. Junior and senior level courses (300 and 400) are considered to be upper-division courses.
38