Course Prerequisites and Corequisites

A prerequisite can be a course(s) or restriction(s) required before enrollment in a more advanced course.  A corequisite is a course that the student must take in the same term as another course. A pre/corequisite is a course that the student must have either completed before registering for a more advanced course or will be taking in the same term as the other course.

The Ohio Department of Higher Education requires a minimum prerequisite of “graduate standing” for all master’s degree level courses (50000 and 60000 levels) and “doctoral standing” for all doctorate level courses (70000 and 80000 levels). Kent State requires the statement of “none” in the course description for all undergraduate courses (00000 to 40000 levels) with no prerequisite.

Types of Prerequisites

  • Specific course(s) or a range of courses or credit hours 
  • Minimum grade required for a course
  • Test scores
  • Student Academic level
  • College, department, campus or program
  • Overall GPA of the student
  • Special approval

Prerequisites That Are Functional in Banner

  • Specific course(s) or a range of courses or credit hours that can be identified as a prerequisite, corequisite or pre/corequisite
    • Example: 
      • ENG 21011
      • 6 credits of FIN courses
      • one PSYC course
      • three lower-division courses
  • Test score that is standard
    • Example:
      • ACT
      • ALEKS
      • unique to a group of students (e.g., audition, portfolio review, advanced study)
  • Student level
    • Example:
      • senior standing
      • graduate standing
  • College, department, campus or program
    • Example: 
      • major
      • concentration
      • minor
      • School of Music
  • Overall GPA of the student; warning! this restriction does not work well in some instances;  contact Curriculum Services to discuss
  • Special approval (aka permission), which prohibits all students from registering unless they seek a permit override from the course’s academic department/faculty
  • Prerequisite groupings
    • Courses, test scores, student level, college, department, campus, program connected by “AND
      • Example: MUS 10001 and audition passage (using a test score applied to student) and major or minor in music and junior standing
    • Courses levels (undergraduate, graduate) connected by “OR
      • Example: SPED 23000 or  SPED 63200

Prerequisites That Are Not Functional in Banner

  • Knowledge that is not tied to a course or test score
    • Examples: proficiency in French, experience in computer programming
  • High school coursework
  • GPA from a high school or any other college or university
  • Courses that are not specified
    • Examples: 6 credit hours of education courses, one law course, first-year core requirements, successful completion of an introductory course
  • Prerequisite groupings
    • Courses/test scores, student level, college, department, campus, program connected by “OR
      • Examples: ECON 22003 or Economics major,  MUS 1111 or sophomore standing, 34 ALEKS math score or Mathematics major, senior standing or major in Ambassador Crawford College of Business and Entrepreneurship
    • Special approval connected with any other prerequisite by “OR
      • Example: Graduate standing or special approval (any course prerequisite can be overridden with departmental/faculty approval; therefore, this prerequisite is not needed)
    • GPA connected with any other prerequisite by “OR
      • Example: 2.5 overall GPA or NURS 20000
    • Different set of prerequisites for different set of students
      • Example: ENTR 27056 for Entrepreneurship majors or FDM 35280 for Fashion majors (however, ENTR 27056 or FDM 35280 is accepted)

Notes on Prerequisite Checking for Registration

  • Banner is programmed to include the student’s in-progress term when checking prerequisites for a course registration. If the student no longer meets the course’s prerequisite after a successful registration, Banner does not deregister the student from the course. It is the responsibility of academic units to deregister students who do not meet prerequisites after registration.
    • Example: a student taking Accounting I in the fall semester registers for Accounting II in November for the spring semester. Accounting I is a prerequisite for Accounting II. Later, the student withdraws from Accounting I (or fails or receives a below-acceptable grade). Banner does not deregister the student automatically from Accounting II.
  • All undergraduate course prerequisites will have a default minimum D grade.
  • All graduate course prerequisites will have a default minimum C grade unless requested otherwise by faculty through the course approval process.