Background

The Montana University System is moving to common numbering for all undergraduate courses for all public institutions in Montana. What this means:

• All public colleges and universities in Montana will use the same subject abbreviations(the letter codes that indicate the course subject), numbers, and titles for courses taught on more than one campus. 
• It is important to remember that just because a course does not have a common number, or an equivalent is not listed in the guide, does not mean it doesn’t transfer! College level courses (those considered 100 level or above) taken from regionally accredited institutions TRANSFER.  Academic advisors will have to work with faculty to determine HOW the course(s) apply to specific academic foundations and degree programs.
• If students transfer to another campus, only courses also taught at the new campus will automatically transfer as equivalent. 
• All other courses will continue to be evaluated on a course by course basis for application to curricular requirements.
• Most current MSU Billings subject abbreviations and numbers WILL CHANGE as implementation moves forward.
• Many familiar course titles will change. 
• Some courses will change level (e.g., from the 300-level to the 400-level).
• Course content remains the purview of faculty and will NOT be changed as a result of this process.
• During the transition period, which is likely to last several years, curricular requirements listed in the catalog and on advising worksheets (the lists of what courses are required for majors) will be updated in an ongoing fashion to reflect the changes.

What you need to do

We have created a Common Courses Equivalency tool to let you find out how course numbers have changed. With this tool, you can select the old subject abbreviations and see what those courses are now called or you can select the new subject code and see what they used to be called.

The online version of MSU Billings catalog will be updated as changes are made to include the new numbers and titles in all curricula. The printed version will be updated during the regular 2-year revision cycle. If you are using the printed catalog, you can use the Common Courses Equivalency  to find the new numbers.

An entire list of updated course equivalencies in a CSV excel file is available by clicking here.

* Courses that have changed from 1xx to 0xx no longer count toward total credits for graduation even as elective.

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