PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas (July 12, 2021) – In the interest of streamlining the process of course transfers and aligning Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU) with other schools in Texas, PVAMU has adopted the Texas Common Course Numbering System (TCCNS). The TCCNS is a statewide uniform set of course designations for students and their advisors to use in determining both course equivalency and degree applicability of transfer credits.
Although the target of the change is lower-level classes (freshman and sophomore levels), beginning this fall, all students will see changes in the way their classes are formatted in the PVAMU registration system and catalog. Deborah Dungey, PVAMU’s former registrar, who is currently the special assistant to the vice president of Enrollment Management, confirms that transfer students, particularly, will benefit from the change.
“Transfer students will be able to see early on how their courses taken at a Texas community college will transfer and meet program requirements at PVAMU,” Dungey said. The new numbering system will also assist continuing PVAMU students who wish to take additional courses at community colleges for credit.
The formatting change is straightforward; however, for students familiar with the old system, course numbers, and some course names, have changed. In the new four-digit numbering system, the first digit denotes the academic level of the course. The second digit represents the credit value of the course in semester hours. The third and fourth digits establish course sequencing and distinguish the course from others of the same level, credit value and prefix, according to information at TCCNS.org. To abridge this information, a tool on the TCCNS home page checks lower-division course compatibility across 137 institutions of higher learning in Texas. Users only need to select PVAMU in the drop-down menu.
For such a simple idea, the TCCNS has a rather complex, nearly 50-year history. Begun as a voluntary, grass-roots cooperative effort among junior/community colleges and universities, TCCNS “grew from an idea in the mid-1970s to a regional consortium in the late 1980s, to a statewide organization in the early 1990s,” according to the website. Now, all prefix and number combinations used by participating institutions correspond to the course descriptions listed in the Academic Course Guide Manual (ACGM), published by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
“We initially did not participate,” said Dungey, “but now that we have made the transition, we are demonstrating that we want to make the transfer process as seamless as possible for our students.”
First-year and incoming transfer students with further questions may contact PVAMU’s Academic Advising Services at (936) 261-5911.
By Andrew Cohen
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