A professor teaching a higher-level course, for example, cannot count on all the students having read the same books or learned the same material if some have taken the prerequisites at a community college.
Levine's colleague, Andrew Madaus, who shared an office with him and sometimes taught the same class, said Writing 115 was an entry-level course some students were required to take before they could take a higher-level course for which they could earn college credit.
Students should be encouraged to take higher-level courses to prepare them for scientific thinking and methodology.
An introduction to classical number theory to prepare for higher-level courses in the department.
The sequence S&DS 241 and S&DS 242 offers the mathematical foundation for the theory of probability and statistics, and is required for most higher-level courses.
While there has been some criticism that ill-prepared students are more likely to struggle taking higher-level courses, and in effect be set up for failure, administrators say tutoring and other help is available and that students who want to put in the effort can pass the courses.
"As I understand our charge," says Faulkner, now head of the $1.6 billion Houston Endowment, a private philanthropy, "the president wants the best advice on promoting student readiness for algebra and higher-level courses.
Higher-level courses may, with the permission of the DUS, be substituted for prerequisites and for specific required courses.
Higher-level courses may be used to satisfy supporting mathematics and science requirements for students with Advanced Placement preparation with the permission of the major adviser.
"Far too few college-bound students are taking even the basic course work necessary to prepare for college, let alone pushing themselves by taking higher-level courses," Mr. Ferguson said.
