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Enrollment and Registration

Registration

There are two registration periods per academic year: prior to the 12-week Fall session and prior to the 12-week Spring session.

Students who wish to take classes during the 6-week sessions should register prior to the 12-week sessions. Some new students and readmitted students may be permitted to register for the 6- week session; however, they will not be eligible for financial aid for the session. Registration is done using CUNYfirst at www.cuny.edu. Registration information is available on the college’s website: www.laguardia.edu. Only individuals who are actively registered for a course may attend scheduled classes.

Late Registration

Students will not be permitted to register for a course after the announced late registration deadline published in the Academic Calendar.

Types of Courses

A minimum of sixty (60) credits must be awarded to earn your degree. (Some programs require more than 60 credits for degree award – see specific program information for further details.) Credits are earned through successful completion of college courses designated in the curriculum of each program. See the Course Description and Academic Department Information section of the catalog for a complete description of all LaGuardia courses.

Regular Courses

Courses that consist entirely of instruction at the college level. All hours associated with regular courses are college level, and all credits are applicable towards the degree.

Remedial Courses

Remedial courses consist entirely of below college-level instruction, and are designed for students who do not meet CUNY's basic skill proficiency standards. All contact hours associated with remedial courses are non-credit instruction below college level and are designed to serve the needs of students who have not demonstrated skill proficiency as defined by the CUNY assessment policy. Degree credits on remedial courses are zero; however, you will earn equated credits. Equated credits/academic progress units on remedial courses are set equal to the number of contact hours, on a one-to-one basis. Equated credits/academic progress units count towards your minimum course load and full-time status and are used to determine tuition and financial aid enrollment status.

For example, a remedial course that meets for 3 hours per week over a 15-week semester generates 0-degree credits, 3 contact hours and 3 equated credits/academic progress units.

Developmental Courses

Like remedial courses, developmental courses are designed for students who have not demonstrated skill proficiency, and are not open to students who have achieved proficiency as defined by the University. Unlike remedial courses, they carry some degree credit.

Academic credit shall be given only for the college-level instruction in the course. Developmental courses carry excess contact hours of a remedial nature, which may be counted as equated credits/academic progress units in addition to the degree credits. Equated credits/academic progress units are used to determine tuition and financial aid enrollment status.

For example, a developmental course that meets for 6 hours per week for a 15-week semester, of which 3 hours per week are below college level, generates 3-degree credits, 6 contact hours and 6 equated credits/academic progress units.

Remedial and Developmental Courses at LaGuardia

To be successful at LaGuardia, all students must be able to use reading, writing and mathematical skills. The college offers a comprehensive developmental, remedial and ESL program to help students achieve success in their college careers. Since remedial, developmental and ESL courses are designed to teach skills needed in other subjects, students are required to attend these courses regularly and to complete these courses during their first year at the College. Students who need to take several remedial, developmental and ESL courses should expect to take extra time to complete all of their LaGuardia degree requirements.

Remedial Courses

English as a Second Language (ESL): LaGuardia Community College offers through its English as a Second Language Program (ESL), housed in the Education and Language Acquisition Department, a three-level, integrated language skills program for students whose native language is not English. Students are placed in the program based on their writing scores on a placement test. Students who do not qualify for ESL college courses may be referred to the CLIP Program (CUNY Language Immersion Program) housed in the Adult and Continuing Education Division. ESL courses offer intensive instruction in academic reading and writing. The sequence ranges from a beginning-level course to an advanced course focusing on expository writing and critical reading skills. In addition, the ESL lab provides individual and small group tutoring.

The ESL sequence consists of the following courses: ESL II (097), ESL III (098), and ESL IV (099). ESL for Select Readers (ESR098 and ESR099) are offered to new students based on high reading scores on the placement test. Students who receive an “R” or “F” grade in ESR098 or ESR099 cannot repeat these courses but must take ESL098 or ESL099 instead.

Students are generally required to complete the ESL sequence from the point of initial placement. Once the ESL sequence is completed, students can expect to take ESA 099 (the equivalent of ENG 099). For detailed descriptions of the courses, please refer to the Course Description section of the catalog.

English Composition: Students who have a score of 55 or lower on the Writing (CATW) exam and an Accuplacer reading score of less than 55 will be placed into one of the following Basic Writing I courses: ENA099 (new students only, 6.5 equated credits) or ENG099 (4.5 equated credits).

Mathematics: Depending on your score on the Accuplacer tests, you will be placed in one of the following courses: Score of 20-39: MAT095 Introduction to Algebra (5.5 equated credits); Score of 40- 56: MAT096 Elementary Algebra (5.5 equated credits). Alternately, you may be placed in MAT099 Fundamentals of Algebra (7 equated credits), which combines MAT095 and MAT096.

Developmental Courses

English Composition: This accelerated learning model enrolls Basic Writing students in a traditional first year composition course with non-Basic Writers. The Basic Writing cohort of the class meets for additional hours with the instructor to practice and deepen learning introduced in the first year composition course. At LaGuardia, ENA101 is a 7-hour course (3 credits, 7 equated credits). For 4 hours each week, the faculty member meets with 22 students: 12 students enrolled in a traditional ENG 101 course and 10 Basic Writing students enrolled in the ENA 101 course. It is the same course and meets for the same 4 hours each week, but the codes differentiate the ENG and ENA student cohorts. The ENA 101 students meet for an additional 3 hours each week with the instructor. This time is devoted to intensive practice and work on information, skills, and assignments introduced during the 4-hour ENG 101 course. ENA 101 offers Basic Writing students the opportunity to jump start their education by completing Basic Writing and English 101 at the same time, instead of taking them as two separate courses during two different semesters.

ENC 101 is a different version of acceleration. ENC 101 is a 5- hour course (3 credits, 5 equated credits) for new students. All of the students in ENC 101 are Basic Writers. The additional hour, like in ENA 101, allows students to complete both Basic Writing and English 101 at the same time.

Mathematics: LaGuardia Community College currently offers three mathematics developmental (also called co-requisite) courses. These courses allow students placed in Elementary Algebra to satisfy their remedial mathematics requirements and earn college mathematics credits in a single semester. They are also designed to achieve the same learning objectives as their stand-alone college- level counterparts. Our model uses a single course structure with extended instructional time, allowing for integrated just-in-time support for basic skills material. The co-requisite courses we offer are:

MAT117 Algebra and Trigonometry (3 credits, 7 equated credits), which is equivalent to the traditional elementary algebra and college-level algebra sequence. This course is primarily for all students in STEM majors or majors that require the College Algebra course. MAT117 is a 7-hour course - 6 lecture hours and 1 computer lab hour.

MAT119 Statistics with Elementary Algebra (3 credits, 7 equated credits), which is equivalent to the traditional elementary algebra and college-level elementary statistics sequence. This course is primarily for students in Liberal Arts majors commonly referred to as non-STEM majors. MAT119 is a 7-hour course – 5 lecture hours and 2 computer lab hours.

MAT123 Quantitative Reasoning co-requisite course (3 credits, 7 equated credits), which is equivalent to the traditional elementary algebra and quantitative reasoning course. This course is intended primarily for students in Humanities and Fine Arts majors. MAT123 is a 6-hour course - 5 lecture hours and 1 computer lab hour.

Credit Load

The college does not require that students enroll for a minimum number of credits. A full-time program, however, is considered to be 12.0 or more credits or equated credits (eq. cr.) per semester (a semester includes both Session I and II). Students are encouraged to enroll in at least 15 credits across Sessions to save time, spend less money and graduate faster. Many financial aid awards require students to maintain full-time status. For further information consult with C107.

Full-Time Criteria:

In order to be considered full-time, students must meet the conditions of one of the following categories:

  1. Be registered for 12.0 or more credits

  2. Be taking a full-time Internship and additional courses for a total of 12.0 eq. cr.

  3. Be taking a part-time Internship and 10 additional eq. cr.

  4. Be a first semester freshman and register for 3.0 credits and 12.0 eq. cr. (at least one of the courses must appear on the special value course list published in the Schedule of Classes) or

  5. Be registered for 6.0 credits and 12 tuition units (at least one of the courses must appear on the special value course list published in the Schedule of Classes)

Students may achieve their full-time status in Session I or take a combination of courses in Session I and II in order to achieve full- time status. Students must register for the Session II classes when they register for Session I or the Session II class may not be considered for financial aid. It is recommended that students attempt to be full-time in Session I.

Maximum Equated Credits Per Semester

Students may not register for more than 18 eq. cr. per 12-week session, or two courses (not to exceed 9 eq. cr.) per 6-week session. Exceptions may be granted through special permission. In order to receive special permission:

  1. During advisement, students must consult with their faculty or academic advisor to receive his or her recommendation.

  2. Students must obtain written permission from the Provost or designee. To obtain approval, students must have completed all basic skills and have a GPA of 3.0.

Changes to Your Registration

Swap Courses

Swapping courses is the exchanging of registered courses in CUNYFirst in a single transaction. At any time, a student may swap sections of the same course (i.e., ENG101 at 10am for ENG101 at noon) with no financial aid liability, although a program change charge may apply. If a student swaps courses, however (ENG101 for BIO101) after the close of the add/drop period of Session I, even if that swap is for Session II, the system recognizes this as a dropped course and an added course, not as a swap, and there may be financial aid ramifications. Please be sure to check your financial aid status, if applicable, and see Student Financial Services in C107 for any issues that arise.