Note: NCTC offers a number of courses (listed below) designed to help you acquire the skills necessary for success in college-level courses. The courses are widely offered in Texas community/junior colleges, and the policy statewide is that these will not transfer as college-level courses nor will they count toward graduation at accredited Texas colleges and universities. It is important that you understand that such courses are designed to help you overcome academic deficiencies that are likely to hinder you in your pursuit of a college degree. Attendance in College Preparatory Studies is mandatory when a student has not passed the THEA or COMPASS exam. After THREE hours of absenteeism, a student may be warned and referred to the Department Chair of College Preparatory Studies. At SIX hours of absenteeism, a student may be dropped from his/her College Preparatory class. If the student is dropped from the only College Preparatory class in which he/she is enrolled, the student will be DROPPED from all remaining courses for that semester.

ENGL 0300 Fundamentals of English I

48 lecture hours ....................................................................................... 3 credit hours

A course designed for students who have demonstrated by scores on placement tests and their writing samples their need for the beginning level of Fundamentals of English. Students will practice formulating simple and compound sentences and learn tense formation, basic subject-verb agreement, end punctuation, dictionary skills, prefixes, roots, suffixes, and basic spelling rules and skills. Students will gain skill in writing clear, logically developed paragraphs using standard American English. Does not count toward graduation at NCTC.

ENGL 0305 Fundamentals of English II

Prerequisite: ENGL 0300 passed with a "C" or better OR satisfactory placement score.

48 lecture hours ....................................................................................... 3 credit hours

A course designed for students who have demonstrated by scores on placement tests and their writing samples that they should be capable of starting at the second level of Fundamentals of English. Fundamentals of English II will review skills from the first level and then will help students gain practice in recognizing, writing, and revising clear, correct compound and complex sentenses; in mastering subject-verb agreement and pronoun usage; in using all punctuation; and in overcoming major spelling problems. This course, building on paragraph skills taught in Fundamentals of English I, will teach students to write short essays in standard American English. Does not count toward graduation at NCTC.

MATH 0303 (NCTM 0331) Pre-Algebra

48 lecture hours ....................................................................................... 3 credit hours

This introductory course includes a general overview of basic arithmetic: fractions, decimals, and percent. Other topics include algebraic concepts, integers, solving equations, linear equations, graphing, and polynomials. Simple geometric concepts are also discussed. This course is designed for those students with little or no algebra background. This course does not count toward graduation at NCTC.

MATH 0305 (NCTM 0351) Beginning Algebra

Prerequisite: MATH 0303 passed with a "C" or better OR satisfactory placement score.

48 lecture hours ....................................................................................... 3 credit hours

This course includes basic algebraic concepts and notations, algebraic expressions and equations, factoring polynomials, and graphing. Some algebra is required. This course does not count toward graduation at NCTC.

MATH 0310 (NCTM 0371) Intermediate Algebra

Prerequisite: MATH 0305 passed with a "C" or better OR satisfactory placement score.

48 lecture hours ....................................................................................... 3 credit hours

Concepts instructed in this course are algebraic expressions including polynomials and rational expressons, linear expressions and inequalities, funtions and relations, conic sections, and systems of equations and inequalities. This course does not count toward graduation at NCTC.

READ 0300 Reading Techniques I

48 lecture hours ....................................................................................... 3 credit hours

A course designed to raise the reading skills of students who have been assessed. Emphasis is placed on the development of word attack skills, word recognition, basic vocabulary, pronunciation, and reading comprehension. Does not count toward graduation at NCTC.

READ 0305 Reading Techniques II

Prerequisite: READ 0300 passed with a "C" or better OR satisfactory placement score.

48 lecture hours ....................................................................................... 3 credit hours

A course intended to continue elevation of reading skills with particular emphasis on critical and analytical strategies. This course does not count toward graduation at NCTC.