Vocabulary
Academic Probation
Students are placed on academic probation if their GPA drops below 2.0.
Bulletin
Available online, the Bulletin is a university publication that lists all department and course descriptions, academic standards, requirements for graduation and student rights and responsibilities.
Class Schedule
The online Class Schedule lists courses offered for that semester, as well as the times, locations, and instructors of those courses.
College
Academic departments at SF State are housed in one of eight academic Colleges, each of which is centered around a broad field of knowledge.
Continuing Students
Continuing Students are those who have not been absent from SF State for more than one complete semester, not including summer semester. If you do not attend SF State for 2 or more consecutive semesters, you will have to reapply to SF State & may be held to new Bulletin requirements.
Degree Audit Report - DARS
A Degree Audit Report is an online form which shows where you stand on all SF State graduation requirements. If a freshman takes community college classes or has Advanced Placement Test scores of 3+, the DARS will reflect credits and requirements met. Access your DARS online at MySFSU [new window].
Department
Within SF State’s 8 Colleges, departments offer different fields of study. For example, the College of Humanities includes the Philosophy Department, the Journalism Department, the English Department, etc.
Disqualification
Undergraduate students are disqualified when they have been on probation for too long, or their GPA falls too far below 2.0.
Early Priority Registration
You can register for a maximum of eight units during your Early Priority Registration date and time. All students receive the opportunity to add their top two choices of classes in Early Priority Registration.
Elective
Generally, electives are courses students take which do not fulfill any specific graduation requirement. Students may need electives to bring their total units to the 120 unit minimum for graduation.
Final Priority Registration
During Final Priority Registration, students are allowed to add up to 16 units. Therefore, if you added six units in early Early Priority Registration, you may add or waitlist for an additional 10 units or a maximum of 16 units.
Freshman
Students who have completed fewer than 30 semester units are freshmen.
Full-time Student
For fee payment, full-time students are enrolled in 6.1 or more units a semester. Financial Aid, insurance companies, international visa requirements or Veterans Benefits consider 12 or more units as full-time.
General Education (GE)
GE is a group of courses representing the breadth requirements, required of all undergraduate students regardless of major.
Grade Point Average (GPA)
GPA is an average of all the grades a student earns. To calculate, divide your total grade points (GP) by the total number of units you have attempted (UA).
Major
A major is the field of study in which students specialize. Students must have a major to graduate.
Part-time Student
When paying tuition, any student who takes no more than 6 units is considered part-time. However, in terms of course load requirements for Financial Aid, Visas, Veterans Benefits, or many insurance companies, anyone who takes fewer than 12 units is a part-time student.
Prerequisite
A course or other requirement that students must complete before taking other classes in a particular department. All course prerequisites are listed in the back of the Bulletin.
Remedial Course
Any course numbered 0-99 is considered remedial, and does not earn units toward graduation.
For example, if a student needs to take remedial math classes, he/she must pass it in the first year of college.
Residence Requirement
Students must take at least 30 of their 120-132 units at SF State if they plan to graduate from SF State.
Sophomore
Students who have completed 30-59 units are sophomores.
Transcript
A transcript is a record of your academic career which lists courses taken, grades received, grade point average, and other data. Students can view their unofficial transcripts online.
Unit
Courses are assigned a number of units based on the amount of lecture or activity required. Most lecture classes are 3 units, which means they meet 3 hours per week and require at least 2 hours of study per unit of class time (6 hours for a 3 unit class).
Credit/ No Credit (CR/NC)
You can request this grading system if you do not want the grade to count towards your GPA. You receive CR when you pass a class with a C- grade or higher. You use your MySFSU to select Credit/No Credit option for any of your courses.
Lower Division
Lower division refers to students’ Freshman and Sophomore years of study. Courses numbered 100-299 are considered lower division courses. Lower division classes are usually introductory and survey courses.
Upper Division
Courses numbered 300-699 are called upper division. Freshmen and sophomores may take upper division courses, except for GE Segment III or other restricted courses. The course description in the Bulletin can show if an upper division course is appropriate for lower division students to take.
