Glossary of Terms

Credit may be awarded for the successful completion of AP Examinations. However, such awards are not automatic and may involve further departmental testing or evaluation. You should have your scores sent to Creighton University for credit evaluation. If you took an AP Exam in your senior year of high school, your score will not arrive before you register at Creighton. Do not register for any class for which you think you may receive AP credit, regardless of how you feel about your performance on the AP Exam. For example, if you take the AP Psychology Exam in your senior year, do not register for PSY 201 in the fall. The requirement will either be satisfied by the AP Exam or you can take the course in the spring semester. If you have AP credit that does not satisfy a particular Creighton curriculum requirement, the credit will fall under unrestricted electives and count toward the 128 credit hours needed to graduate.

Go here to see how AP examinations fulfill the Magis Core Curriculum requirements.

This faculty member will help you choose your courses and teach your RSP class.

At the end of some course descriptions, an abbreviation for the class structure would be provided. The number of class hours per week is listed with the code:
D = discussion/lecture
L = lab
R = recitation-lecture

The course has another course that must be taken concurrently. The listing of this needed co-requisite will follow a “CO:” at the end of the course description. For example, each Critical Issues of Human Inquiry class has a corresponding COM 101 section.  Other examples of courses that have a co-requisite / companion class are: CHM 203 + CHM 204, BIO 201 + BIO 205 and SPN, GER or ITA 110 + 109. To register for co-requisite courses, the student will need to register using the CRN for each of the courses. The CRNs must be entered together into the “registration boxes”.

Each course is identified by a three-digit course number. Classes taken in the freshman year will typically be 100- or 200-level courses.

Credit hours indicate roughly the number of hours a week a student is in the classroom as well as the number of hours outside the classroom that should be spent on homework and studying. The vast majority of Creighton courses are 3 credit hours. To be considered a full-time student, you must be registered for at least 12 credit hours per semester, while most students will take 15 credit hours per semester. The maximum credits you can take in one semester is 18. Most Heider College of Business students will have 16 or 17 hours in their first semester because of RSP and/or Critical Issues in Human Inquiry.

Course Reference Number is a five-digit number corresponding to a specific section of a specific course. These numbers are found next to the course title in the schedule of courses. To speed up the registration process at your assigned registration time, you should know the CRNs for each of the courses you wish to take. You can enter these directly on the Add/Drop courses page.

You may have earned college credit through another regionally-accredited college or university while enrolled in high school. Credit earned in this way will be reviewed and evaluated by the Heider College of Business. A grade of C or better must be achieved to receive credit for the hours, however the grade will not count toward your GPA at Creighton. The Heider College prefers that all business classes be taken at Creighton University, however courses taken at AACSB accredited institutions will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. If you have dual enrollment credit that does not satisfy a particular Creighton curriculum requirement, the credit will fall under unrestricted electives and count toward the 128 credit hours needed to graduate.

The Heider College of Business will have a new curriculum in fall 2020, that will concentrate on six key areas to enable student to adapt and succeed in an evolving business world. The Heider Mindsets are: Analytical Mindset, Cross-Cultural Mindset, Collaborative Mindset, Action Mindset, Service Mindset and Reflective Mindset.  The new curriculum, in combination with extracurricular involvement, will intentionally engage students in each of the six mindsets.

Creighton University acknowledges the quality of the IB Program. Scores of 5 and higher on the IB Higher Level Examinations will result in granting of college credit equivalent to the lower-division courses at Creighton University. Note: no IB Standard Level Exams are accepted. If you took an IB Higher Level Exam in your senior year, your score will not arrive before you register at Creighton. Do not register for any class for which you think you may receive IB credit, regardless of how you feel about your performance on the IB Exam. For example, if you take the HL Psychology exam in your senior year, do not register for PSY 201 in the fall. The requirement will either be satisfied by the IB Exam or you can take the course in the spring semester.

If you have IB credit that does not satisfy a particular Creighton curriculum requirement, the credit will fall under unrestricted electives and count toward the 128 credit hours needed to graduate. Go here to see how IB scores are accepted into the Magis Core Curriculum.

The Kingfisher Concentration allows Heider students to explore a liberal arts discipline while completing BSBA degree requirements.  A Kingfisher Concentration is required, and will be fulfilled by completing three courses in an academic area in the College of Arts and Sciences. Students may choose to begin a Kingfisher Concentration in the first semester, or wait as late as the second semester of junior year to begin.

BSBA Pre-Health and BSBA 3-3 Pre-Law curriculums do not require a Kingfisher Concentration.

Learning Communities allow students with shared academic interests and experiences to come together to discern options in pre-professional study. The seminars and co-curricular activities are designed and offered through the Student Success program to strengthen candidacy of Creighton undergraduate students as they prepare for the graduate or professional school application process. If you have an interest in possibly attending graduate or professional school, such as law school or medical school, please let your Advisor know so he or she can provide you the necessary resources to get involved with the appropriate learning community.

The Magis Common Core serves as the cornerstone of the Creighton University education to lay a shared foundation for all undergraduate students. The components of the Magis Core Curriculum are intentionally selected to provide a liberal educational experience for all undergraduate students. Courses fall into three categories: Foundations, Explorations, and Integrations. More about the philosophy and structure of the Magis Core can be found here.

A prerequisite (also called prereq) is a specific course or other requirement that must be completed to register for a course. The prerequisites will be indicated at the end of a course description with a “P:” For example, “P: ECO 203” appears at the end of the course description for ECO 205. This means Microeconomics (ECO 203) is a prerequisite course for Macroeconomics (ECO 205).

The Quantitative Assessment for New Students (QANS) is a short assessment focused on mathematical knowledge and reasoning. All students are required to complete the QANS at least one week prior to your Summer Preview attendance and Fall registration time this summer, typically in June. Learn more about QANS.

Results from the QANS will be used for Pre-Health students to determine placement into CHM 105 or CHM 203/204. QANS results may also be used to provide advising on the placement in and timing of first-year mathematics courses.

From the Latin for “plan of studies”, our RSP program is designed to help students transition from high school to Creighton by examining key elements of collegiate life. Students will come to understand how the curriculum functions to form them as young women and men, and how they can expect to grow and develop in the university setting. RSP focuses on the need for students to plan their curriculum, their career, leadership and a way of life that concentrates on ethical living, service to others and a search for truth and justice in public and personal life. This is a one-credit hour, graded course that meets weekly in the first semester and taught by your Faculty Advisor. All Heider College of Business students will be enrolled and automatically registered for RSP 103.

Studying abroad is when coursework is completed at another accredited institution, typically in another country. If you are possibly interested in studying abroad, please let your Advisor know so your courses can be planned accordingly.

Standard three-letter abbreviations are used throughout the University to identify the subject fields.

Magis Common Core Foundations, Explorations, and Integrations subjects*
ENG: English
PHL: Philosophy
THL: Theology
HCB General Education subjects*
RSP: Ratio Studiorum
TSC: The Success Center
PSY: Psychology
MTH: Mathematics
ART: Art
DAN: Dance
MUS: Music
THR: Theatre
Global Perspectives subjects*
FRN: French
GER: German
ITA: Italian
JPN: Japanese
RUS: Russian
SPN: Spanish

Critical Issues in Human Inquiry subjects*
ARH: Art History
CNE: Classical and Near Eastern Studies
COM: Communication Studies
EDU: Education
HIS: History
SPN: Spanish
SWK: Social Work

Understanding Natural Science subjects*
BIO: Biology
CHM: Chemistry
CSC: Informatics and Computer Science
ERG: Energy Technology
NSC: Natural Science
PHY: Physics

Understanding Social Science subjects*
ANT: Anthropology
COM: Communication Studies
PLS: Political Science
SOC: Sociology
SWK: Social Work

Business subjects*
ACC: Accounting
BIA: Business Intelligence & Analytics
BUS: Business
ECO: Economics
FIN: Finance
MKT: Marketing
MGT: Management
ENT: Entrepreneurship