Program Description

The Developmental Studies program is designed for students who are not academically prepared to enter the regular college curriculum and serves as a bridge between the student's current educational level and the typical college classroom experience. Its purpose is to help students achieve a level of academic competence that will enable them to work successfully in college-level courses. To this end, students in Developmental Studies courses enjoy the advantage of classes with limited enrollments, thus insuring personal attention and frequent interaction between instructors and students. All students who have enrolled in a degree or certificate program must begin required Developmental Studies courses within their first six credits regardless of full- or part-time status, curriculum, or career aspirations. Full- and part-time students seeking an AS, AA, or AAS degree and students enrolled in a certificate program with a math requirement must complete required developmental courses through Introductory Algebra I and II or Basic Algebra in consecutive semesters from their initial entry into the College. Students enrolled in a certificate or curriculum that does not have a math requirement must complete required developmental courses through Basic Mathematics.

The Developmental Studies program offers courses in four skill areas: reading, writing, math, and algebra. Course offerings are scheduled each semester, day and evening, and most summer sessions, and begin with the 01, 02, 03, 04, and 05 number designation in the College schedule. All Developmental Studies courses are issued Institutional Credits (IC) which do not count in the grade point average (GPA) and do not fulfill graduation requirements. Letter grades "AI" through "FI" represent Institutional Credit in the Sussex County Community College grading system. The "SI" grade indicates that a student has made satisfactory progress in the first level of a two-level Developmental Studies course and may progress to the second level.

Developmental Studies courses are pre-requisites to college-level courses which require skill in any area in which a student shows a lack of proficiency as determined by the College Placement Test. Students who are required to take only developmental math or algebra courses in Developmental Studies are not restricted from taking college-level courses which require reading or writing.

Course Placement

Following admission to Sussex County Community College, all students, except those entering the English as a Second Language program, are required to take the College Placement Test. Based on their College Placement Test scores, students are placed in their required Developmental Studies courses and have an individual schedule designed to meet their needs. Developmental Studies faculty are available to assist students in the program in all matters related to their academic lives.

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Division Email

jcutshal@sussex.edu