Undergraduate Courses with Noncredit Seats
Take a noncredit course at a reduced tuition rate!
Costs
- $180 for the noncredit option in a 1-credit course*
- $260 for the noncredit option in a 1.5-credit course*
- $320 for the noncredit option in a 2-credit course*
- $520 for the noncredit option in a 3-credit course*
- $625 for the noncredit option in a 4-credit course*
*plus applicable fees. In addition to the tuition and any listed lab fees, there is a $25 nonrefundable noncredit registration fee paid once per semester. Please note: Specialized course tuition rates may vary from the above.
More Information
- Students who register for this option do not receive college credit or grades.
- This noncredit option is limited to students who are not enrolled in a degree program at Purchase College.
- Because noncredit spaces are limited in these credit courses, early registration is advised.
- Students may not switch between the credit and noncredit sections of these courses after the add/drop period.
- Early registration discounts do not apply to these courses.
Summer 2020
Register Now
You can find more information in the online course search. Choose “Summer 2020 Noncredit (View Only)” and click on “Course Search.”
Arts Management
| Fundamentals of Arts Management |
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This introductory survey provides an overview of management principles and entities common in both the nonprofit and commercial sectors, preparing students for upper-level courses in the arts management program. Topics include arts business goals and planning, history of arts management, leadership and organizational structure, programming, marketing and public relations, funding and finance, volunteerism and advocacy, and arts and entertainment law.
AMG 1100 | Online | Noncredit | $625 |
| Finance for the Arts I |
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To do more than survive in a competitive economy, artists and their managers must learn business strategies for the financial side of their profession. Students are introduced to the basics of budgets, financial management, and accounting concepts that translate into usable information with practical significance for financial decision-making.
AMG 2200 | Online | Noncredit | $625 |
| Digital Marketing and the Arts |
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Using a hands-on approach, this course explores digital marketing campaigns in the arts. Topics include Facebook, Twitter, blogging, microblogging, video and photo sharing, search engine optimization (SEO), mobile/location-based platforms, virtual realities, and social media integration, strategies, and tactics. Viral theories, trends, and case studies are also explored.
AMG 4060 | Online | Noncredit | $520 |
Biology
| Human Anatomy & Physiology I |
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Introduction to the organ systems of the human body, including the neuromuscular, skeletal, cardiovascular, respiratory, renal, and digestive systems. The physiological mechanisms of adaptation to exercise are also considered.
BIO 1510 | Lecture | Noncredit | $625 |
| Human Anatomy & Physiology I Lab |
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Students learn about both form and function of the human body. Content includes cells and tissues; gross and microscopic anatomy; integumentary, skeletal, and muscular systems; and kinesiology. Lab exercises use microscope slides, models, and dissection for a hands-on approach and a practical knowledge of anatomy.
BIO 1511 | Lab | Noncredit | $260 |
| Human Anatomy & Physiology II: Physiology and Nutrition |
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Introduction to the human body, emphasizing general physiological processes. The body is studied from the viewpoint of homeostasis, concentrating on the relationship of food to the functioning living organism in health and disease. Topics of current interest, controversies, and myths are highlighted.
BIO 1520 | Lecture | Noncredit | $625 |
| Human Anatomy & Physiology II Lab |
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Students learn about both form and function of the human body. Content includes neuroanatomy and neurophysiology; senses (vision, olfaction, taste, hearing, equilibrium); and functional anatomy/physiology of the endocrine, urinary, circulatory, lymphatic, respiratory, digestive, and reproductive systems. Lab exercises use microscope slides, models, and dissection for a hands-on approach and a practical knowledge of anatomy.
BIO 1521 | Lab | Noncredit | $260 |
| General Biology I |
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Introduction to contemporary biology, covering cell structure and function, genetics, development, and molecular biology. This course is for science majors and premedical students; students with limited high school science and mathematics can satisfy college distribution requirements with BIO 1510 or 1520.
BIO 1550 | Lecture | Noncredit | $625 |
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General Biology I Lab |
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Lab exercises on cell organization, cell division, genetics, enzyme kinetics, photosynthesis, and development, and the use of light microscopes, spectrophotometer, and chromatography. Required for premedical students, biology majors, biochemistry majors, and environmental studies majors.
BIO 1551 | Lab | Noncredit | $260 |
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General Biology II |
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Second semester of an introduction to contemporary biology, covering plant and animal morphology and physiology, ecology, behavior, and evolution. This course is for science majors and premedical students; students with limited high school science and mathematics can satisfy college distribution requirements with BIO 1510 or 1520.
BIO 1560 | Lecture | Noncredit | $625 |
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General Biology II Lab |
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Vertebrate anatomy and physiology, and examination of selected plant and animal phyla through lab exercises, experiments, and field trips. Required for premedical students, biology majors, and environmental studies majors.
BIO 1561 | Lab | Noncredit | $260 |
Cinema Studies
| Music Video & Popular Culture |
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Examines the history of music videos, studying their effectiveness as a sales mechanisms as well as their influence on how today’s movies, television and commercials are photographed. Students are required to shoot practice exercises throughout the semester, complete a final paper, and shoot a music video on their own for a campus band or musician. Students must have experience operating a video camera and have access to a digital editing platform or be familiar with Final Cut Pro.
CIN 2200 | Online | Noncredit | $625 |
| Celebrity Culture |
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Investigates celebrity culture through the lens of advertising and public relations. Particular attention is paid to how celebrity culture is created and shaped by various forms of media, ranging from print to social media platforms. Students consider the ways celebrities create change and consider their impact on public and private lives.
CMS 3150 | Online | Noncredit | $520 |
| The Family on Film |
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Explores the many types of families presented on the silver screen in the 20th century and today: perfect/idyllic families, families threatened by divorce, dysfunctional families, eccentric families, families facing a crisis, and current notions of extended or nontraditional families.
CMS 3190 | Online | Noncredit | $625 |
| The Comedy Film |
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Throughout the history of cinema, the comedy film has been one of the most financially profitable genres, producing some of the biggest movie stars. Topics include various comedy film styles and performers, and the role of the comedy film genre within the context of world history, especially during darker periods like the Depression and World War II.
CMS 3210 | Online | Noncredit | $625 |
Communications
| Group Collaboration |
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Students will learn how to collaborate in order to work with others to achieve goals. Those goals may be personal, social and/or task oriented. Through practical, hands-on exercises, students will apply theories of group interaction to demonstrate their working knowledge of effective process. Students will be able to recognize when groups become stuck and brainstorm ways to move forward.
COM 2010 | Online | Noncredit | $520 |
First-Year Seminar
| Science in the Modern World |
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An understanding of scientific principles is essential for an educated and engaged citizenry. This course investigates the substance and process of modern science and its role in society, including the scientific method and nature of scientific inquiry; scientific principles, analysis, and critical thinking; sources of scientific information, critical reading, and evaluation of authenticity; and distinguishing science from pseudoscience. Each course section focuses on a different topic or theme and considers some of the important scientific issues of our times. The discussion is required.
FRS 1200 | Online | Noncredit | $625 |
History
| *CLOSED* Development of the United States I |
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Examines the history of the United States from European colonization and initial contact with Native Americans through the Civil War. Subjects include the diversity of settlement experiences; European-Native American relations; the development of slavery; the causes and consequences of the American Revolution; social, political, and cultural changes in the 18th and 19th centuries; the sectional crisis; and the significance of the Civil War.
HIS 1200 | Online | Noncredit | $520 |
| Intro to Latin American Studies |
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An introductory survey of the history of Latin America from colonial times to the present. Topics include geography, indigenous peoples, colonization and nation formation, society, politics, economy and culture of contemporary Latin America, and its place in today’s world.
HIS 1600 | Online | Noncredit | $625 |
Legal Studies
| Introduction to Criminal Law |
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Topics include the structure of the criminal justice system; the impact of the Supreme Court on criminal justice; and the process of arrest, prosecution, and sentencing.
LEG 1510 | Hybrid | Noncredit | $625 |
Literature
| Modern American Short Stories |
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Concise and focused, the short story has been a lens through which Americans have explored their identities. Stories written in the last 25 years examine the changing sense of what being an American means.
LIT 3677 | Online | Noncredit | $625 |
Mathematics
| Mathematics for Contemporary Life |
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Students learn basic concepts in quantitative reasoning (number systems, data manipulation, basic statistics), with emphasis on problem solving using computational methods. This course uses a textbook and focuses on applications related to consumer issues to develop computational and problem-solving skills. Students learn to transform data into information and apply quantitative methods to evaluate information and solve real-world problems.
MAT 1060 | Online | Noncredit | $625 |
| Precalculus |
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Prepares students with limited backgrounds in high school mathematics for calculus. Topics include absolute values and inequalities, the properties of functions, graphs, logarithms, fractional exponents, and trigonometry.
MAT 1150 | Online | Noncredit | $625 |
| Calculus I |
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The basic concepts of the differential and integral calculus. Focus is on the applicability of these topics to an array of problems. The first course in a three-semester series.
MAT 1500 | Lecture | Noncredit | $625 |
| Calculus II |
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A continuation of MAT 1500. Topics include differentiation and integration of logarithmic, exponential, and inverse trigonometric functions; techniques of integration; arc length; infinite series; and improper integrals. Applications include work, growth, and decay problems and volumes of solids of revolution.
MAT 1510 | Lecture | Noncredit | $625 |
Media Studies
| Introduction to Media Studies |
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An introduction to theories of the media, visual, and performing arts. Using semiotics as a point of departure, students explore the language and iconography of visual communication. The course focuses on works of art, advertising, television, and the web as social contexts of cultural production and analyses the role that ordinary people play in the production of media.
MSA 1050 | Online | Noncredit | $520 |
| Reality TV |
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In 1991, The Real World pioneered a genre of “unscripted” television that reshaped national media culture, culminating in the reality of the 2016 election. Students study theories of Hall, Habermas and Gramsci to explore how the genre reflects and shapes attitudes of U.S. audiences to surveillance, class conflict, and the performance of truths. Examples include Jersey Shore and American Idol.
MSA 3020 | Online | Noncredit | $625 |
Photography
| Introduction to Digital Photography |
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An introduction to the techniques, current practices, and history surrounding digital photography. Editing techniques are covered, with attention to image manipulation using Adobe Photoshop and RAW files. Composition, lighting, point of view, and use of narrative are explored. A digital camera is required; cameras may be borrowed, as available, from Campus Technology Services. Students may not earn credit for both PHO 1100 (offered by the School of Art+Design) and PHO 1101.
PHO 1101 | Studio | Noncredit | $520 |
Religion
| World Religions: An Anatomy of the Sacred |
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“God is dead,” Nietzsche famously proclaimed to signal the waning power of religion. In spite of the influence religion exerts, one is reminded of the lack of understanding of the world’s major faiths. This course is a study of the origins, evolution, and the traditions of the major and minor religions of the world.
REL 3250 | Online | Noncredit | $625 |
Sociology
| Intro to Sociology |
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An introduction to sociological thinking and to key concepts in sociology. Attention is given to social life, inequality, movements, action, change, institutions, and contemporary social issues.
SOC 1500 | Online | Noncredit | $520 |
| Racial Inequalities |
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Given the ethnic complexity of society, major social institutions—including education, criminal justice, health care, social services, and business—face many challenges. This course explores the past, present, and future of race and ethnicity in American society, and how immigration, culture, religion, education, and income play parts in prejudice, discrimination, and racial inequalities.
SOC 3415 | Online | Noncredit | $625 |
| Sociology of Education |
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An examination of the special relationship of education to other American institutions. Topics include the declining support for public education, attempts to privatize public education (vouchers), and race and class issues in public and private education.
SOC 3500 | Online | Noncredit | $625 |
Spanish
| Beginning Spanish I |
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For students who have had little or no previous exposure to the language. Presents the essential structures of spoken and written Spanish by involving the student in situations that concretely represent the concepts of the language.
SPA 1010 | Online | Noncredit | $625 |
| Beginning Spanish II |
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A continuation of SPA 1010. Increased time is devoted to reading and writing. Development of oral skills remains the primary objective of the course.
SPA 1020 | Online | Noncredit | $625 |
| Intermediate Spanish I |
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For students already familiar with the fundamentals of spoken and written Spanish. Through various reading assignments, students are given a context for discussion to increase vocabulary and speaking ease. Weekly compositions serve as an aid for grammar review.
SPA 2010 | Online | Noncredit | $625 |