Course Prerequisites and/or Co-requisites

Students enrolling in a course with a prerequisite must complete that prerequisite with a “C” grade or higher before they are allowed to register. A course has a prerequisite to ensure that a student has the appropriate body of knowledge to be successful. Courses with a co-requisite require that a student has successfully completed the course in a prior term or is enrolled in the co-requisite course in the same term.

Please note: Dropping a class with a co-requisite will result in a drop from both classes.

Usually a prerequisite is a course from a lower sequence of courses. For example: Students may not enroll in Math 142 (Elementary Statistics with Probability) without first passing MATH-119 or equivalent with a “C” grade or higher. Usually, a co-requisite course is a lab or a course that provides supplemental instruction.

To see which courses have prerequisites and/or co-requisites see the individual course offerings in the catalog.

Prerequisite and/or co-requisite challenge

Students who are denied enrollment in a class because they do not meet the prerequisite requirement may challenge the prerequisite. Challenge petitions are available in the Admissions and Records Office.

Challenging a prerequisite or co-requisite

Prerequisites and co-requisites may be challenged for the following conditions:

  • The prerequisite is based on health or safety and is either not valid or does not apply to a particular student.
  • The prerequisite is discriminatory on the basis of ethnicity, religious belief, political persuasion, age, gender, or sexual orientation.
  • The prerequisite course has not been reasonably made available at DVC.
  • The prerequisite was not established according to state law.
  • The student has the knowledge or ability to succeed in the course or program despite not meeting the prerequisite or co-requisite. The student has gained the knowledge and skills in another fashion, for example, through work or life experience.

Contact the Admissions and Records Office regarding information and forms for challenging prerequisites.