“101” is also a generic term in higher education to refer to the initially, very basic, survey course in a subject. “Math 101” would be a very simple class generally for freshmen. It’s kinda like the way we call general things that a company makes “widget” in business and the generic company that makes them “acme”. ‘101’ just means very basic – and implies easy.

Most systems use numbers as prefix where the first number in the sequence is the level and remaining numbers identify the specific class

1xxx – introductory level, very general information

2xxx – sophomore level, assumes 100 level knowledge

3xxx – junior level – course for majors and very interested non-majors.

4xxx – senior level – very specific and high level major course. Most non-majors won’t even want to attempt it.

5xxx – graduate and advanced seniors — the graduate equivalent of a 101 class or a very high undergraduate class.

6xxx – graduate level – primarily master’s degree major courses but some doctoral students outside their major area.

7xxx – advanced master’s level and introductory doctoral level.

8xxx – absolutely doctoral level – all others would be lost

1xxx-2xxx are referred to as ‘lower level’ and can also be taken at the community college.

3xxx-4xxx are called “upper level” and include most of your major subject courses.

5xxx-8xxx are called “graduate courses” and almost always (there are some exceptions) require a bachelor’s degree before you can take them.

What all of this does is help you pick classes to take. A course mught be called ‘anatomy and physiology’ and be numbers BIO201. That would tell us that it presumes you know some 100 level biology. It could also be numbered BIO 488 and that would tell us that it is intended for science majors who know A LOT of biology.

It also tells you how deeply the topic is going to be covered. Journalism 101 is going to tell you all about the field of journalism and what journalists do and is going to be very basic. Journalism 450 is going to be very specific about some area of journalism (media law for example) and will require some serious prior understanding of journalism concepts.

You need to be able to speak up with your professors and counselors. No question is too stupid. Any question you can think of, thousands of others have asked before you. Don’t let anyone intimidate you. It’s good to try to figure out what the answer to your question is before you ask it, than go ahead and ask it. They want you to be able to think for yourself but the first time you do anything can be tricky.

Good luck.

“1” is the first part of this course with other levels to follow.

“3” is how many credits you’re going to get towards your degree.

“01” is for what section or advisor or instructor is going to teach the course.