Course Descriptions
This section contains descriptions of all credit courses offered at St. Louis Community College as well as other off-campus locations during the academic year. The courses listed herein are current as of October 2025.
Not all of the courses listed in this section are offered every semester. Information on where and when these courses are available may be found in each semester’s course schedule on the Interactive Class Schedule. Contact advising for more information.
Critical Courses
Critical courses are most important to a student's declared major and most strongly predict later success in the major. A critical course requires a minimal grade to progress to higher-level courses.
Exploratory Courses
Exploratory courses are first-semester courses that introduce the program and career field.
Gateway Courses
Gateway courses are courses in many career pathways that must be completed before progression in higher-level courses. These may be the same as critical and/or exploratory courses.
Reading Proficiency Prerequisite
Many courses in this catalog list Reading Proficiency as a prerequisite. This means that before a student can enroll in those courses, they must demonstrate the ability to read at the college level. Achieving reading proficiency helps ensure students are prepared for the reading demands of college coursework.
A student can meet the Reading Proficiency prerequisite by satisfying one of the following criteria:
- ACT reading sub-score of 18 or higher
- SAT verbal score of 500 or higher
- Reading Placement Test Score of 250 or higher
- High school GPA of 2.6 or higher
- HiSET Score of 15 - 20
- High school English grades meeting one of the following:
- Last two English grades were B or better; or
- Last English grade was an A, and the overall high school GPA was at least 2.50
Students who do not meet reading proficiency through any of these methods must enroll in RDG 079 and the co-requisite (if eligible). Otherwise, enrollment in RDG 030 will be required.
Students who are not native speakers of English may meet this prerequisite by earning at least a grade of “C” in ENG 070.
Prerequisites and Developmental Education
Information about prerequisites and developmental education is available online on the Registrar's Office webpage.
Course Levels
The course numbering system uses an abbreviation to identify the subject matter area and a three-digit number to identify the course level. Course levels are defined as follows:
| Code | Title | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|
| 001-079 | Developmental courses | |
| 080-099 | Special topic developmental credit courses | |
| 100-199 | Beginning level credit courses | |
| 200-299 | Advanced level credit courses | |
| 300-399 | Baccalaureate degree advanced level credit courses | |
| 400-499 | Baccalaureate degree advanced level credit courses | |
| 500-599 | Special topic credit courses | |
| 600-699 | Special topic credit courses |
Example
DHY 150 Concepts in Clinical Dental Hygiene I: Pre-clinic
DHY indicates the subject area of Dental Hygiene. The number 150 indicates that the course is at the beginning level.
Credit Hours
Unless otherwise noted in the course description, the credit hours listed indicate the number of lecture hours per week for a 16-week semester.