Announcement of Courses
Limitations On Scheduling Courses
Some courses in this catalog will not be scheduled in 2025-2026. Additional courses may be added. Skyline College reserves the right to discontinue, postpone, or combine classes and to change instructors when circumstances warrant such changes. Further, it reserves the right to cancel classes that do not reach a minimum enrollment.
Unless otherwise designated, any course may be offered either in day or evening. Additionally, some courses are offered online. Specific information concerning class hours and locations will be found in the current Class Schedule.
Course Descriptions Information
Courses on the following pages form the basic offerings at Skyline College. Generally in the following course descriptions, both semesters of a sequential course are listed together if the first semester course is a prerequisite to the second semester course. If there is no entry, the course has no prerequisite. All courses are offered for a letter grade, unless otherwise noted.
The credit value of each course in semester units is indicated by the number in parentheses following the title. A semester unit of credit is based upon one hour of the student’s time at the college per week in lecture or recitation throughout one semester, together with the time necessary in preparation, or a longer time in laboratory or other exercises not requiring outside preparation. With a normal schedule of 15 college units, the average student will devote approximately 45 hours per week to class attendance and preparation.
Skyline College reserves the right to make appropriate course and program changes during the course of the year which may not be reflected in this catalog.
Course Numbering And Transferable Credit
The course numbering system in use at Skyline College as part of the San Mateo County Community College District categorizes courses according to the following:
100-599 Courses generally transferable to a four-year college or university.
600-699 Courses varying in content and which are usually transferable.
700-799 Courses that are part of a specific occupational program and which are not generally regarded as transferable.
800-899 Courses that are non-transferable in nature.
Courses accepted by the University of California are indicated at the end of each course description as “UC’’. A complete list of transferable courses can be found in the Transfer Planning section.
Courses identified by Skyline College as transferable to California State Universities are indicated at the end of each course description as “CSU.’’ Courses that fulfill general education requirements show an area letter designation following. All transferable courses that satisfy general education to CSU can be found in the Transfer Planning section.
Because of changing regulations governing the transferability of courses among the segments of higher education in California, students should consult a counselor for current information about specific items. From time to time, a department may offer a course which is experimental in nature, covers a special topic, or which consists of independent study tailored to a student’s needs. Because such courses are never exactly the same, you will not find them described in the catalog. They are, however, regular credit courses of the College. Usually they will be described in the Schedule of Classes or in other course advertising and will have a department name followed by one of the following numbers: The number 670 applies to Work Experience courses; Work Experience Education courses are offered under WORK 670 as well the 670 number in a variety of vocational disciplines. Courses numbered 670 are transferable to CSU. 680, 880 Experimental Courses Courses designed to study a particular area or problem beyond the scope of regularly offered courses. These courses can be offered for a letter grade or for Credit/No Credit.
695 INDEPENDENT STUDY (.5-3) (Pass/No Pass or letter grade.)
Hours/semester: 24 lab hours by arrangement for each .5 unit. Rec om mended: Eligibility for ENGL 846 or ESOL 400, or equivalent. Designed for students who are interested in furthering their knowledge via self-paced, individualized, directed instruction provided in selected areas to be arranged with instructor and approved by the division dean using the Independent Study Form. Varying modes of instruction can be used — laboratory, research, skill development, etc. For each unit earned, students are required to devote three hours per week throughout the semester. Students may take only one Independent Study course within a given discipline. Transfer credit: CSU. Courses numbered 680 or 695 are generally transferable. Courses numbered 880 are not transferable. See a counselor for specifics.
Common Course Numbering
Common Course Numbering (CCN) is a system that uses the same course number and name for comparable courses across all California Community Colleges. All Common Course Numbering courses start with a "C" in the course number, i.e. ENGL C1000. Courses taken before Fall 2025 will not change to CCNs on student records. Courses taken before Fall 2025 will appear with the original course information on the official transcript.
If a student passed a course before Fall 2025, they should not re-take the same course with the new title and number. The two courses are equivalent. The old course number will appear on all academic records for any of these classes taken before or during Summer 2025. Fall 2025 onward, students taking these courses will see the new course number.
| Old Course | New Course (CCN) | Effective Date |
|---|---|---|
| ENGL 100: Reading and Composition | ENGL C1000: Academic Reading and Writing | Fall 2025 |
| ENGL 105: Reading and Composition with Support | ENGL C1000E: Academic Reading and Writing | Fall 2025 |
| ENGL 165: Composition, Argument and Critical Thinking | ENGL C1001: Critical Thinking and Writing | Fall 2025 |
| PSYC 100: General Psychology | PSYC C1000: Introduction to Psychology | Fall 2025 |
| COMM 110: Public Speaking | COMM C1000: Introduction to Public Speaking | Fall 2025 |
| PLSC 200: National, State and Local Government | POLS C1000: American Government and Politics | Fall 2025 |
| MATH 200: Elementary Probability & Statistics | STAT C1000: Introduction to Statistics | Fall 2025 |
Use of Upper-Division Coursework
Upper division courses may be applied to meet the Skyline College general education requirements (Option 1), based on the guidelines established within the Skyline College General Education Handbook.
The use of upper-division coursework to meet the Skyline College general education requirement (Option 2: Cal-GETC California General Education Transfer Curriculum) is governed by the University of California and California State University systems, per the most recent version of the Cal-GETC Standards.
Upper division courses may be applied to meet Skyline College associate degree and certificate major requirements based on content equivalency. Refer to the Skyline College General Education Handbook for additional information.
Upper division courses may be applied to the Skyline College American History and Institutions (AH&I) graduation requirement based on content equivalency. Refer to the Skyline College General Education Handbook for additional information.
Application of upper-division coursework to the Associate Degrees for Transfer (ADTs) requirements, both general education and major, is based on the guidelines established within the Skyline College General Education Handbook. See Reciprocity Guidelines: Application of Upper Division Coursework to the Associate Degrees for Transfer.
Course Repetition
The Board of Trustees of the San Mateo County Community College District has adopted a policy (District Rules and Regulations, Section 6.17.1) in which three types of courses are designated as repeatable:
Intercollegiate Athletics — Courses in which student athletes enroll to participate in an organized sport sponsored by the district or a conditioning course which supports the organized competitive sport may be designated as repeatable. (Title 5 Section 55040/55041)
Intercollegiate Academic or Vocational Competition — Courses that are specifically for participation in non-athletic competitive events between students from different colleges may be designated as repeatable. The course must be tied to the student’s participation in the competition. The event must be sanctioned by a formal collegiate or industry governing body.
Required by CSU or UC for Completion of a Bachelor’s Degree — Repetition of the course is required by CSU or UC for completion of the bachelor’s degree. Courses are limited to four attempts and this enrollment limitation applies even if the student receives a substandard grade or a “W.” (Title 5 Section 55041)
These courses will be designated as “may be repeated for credit’’ in the College Catalog. For more information on this policy, please consult your College counselor. For further information, see Course Repetition under the Registration section of this Catalog.