corequisites

Corequisites are courses that a student must take at the same time as another course, so both enrollments occur in the same term. They differ from prerequisites, which must be completed before a course can be started. Corequisites are used to provide integrated instruction, to offer remediation alongside college-level work, or to accelerate progress by pairing related content with dedicated support.

In practice, corequisites are common in science and math sequences, professional programs, and writing or language courses where labs, recitations, or studios accompany the main class. For example, Chemistry I may be offered as a corequisite pair of lecture and lab; Anatomy and Physiology I with its laboratory; a first-year writing course with a concurrent writing studio or workshop; or necessary math support paired with Calculus I.

Institutions establish policies governing corequisites, including how students enroll (as a linked unit in a single term), scheduling restrictions, and whether overrides are available. Students must plan for both courses simultaneously, which can affect their timetable, credit load, and sometimes financial aid eligibility. In some systems, corequisite remediation replaces traditional sequential placement by requiring a development course in the same term as the college-level course.

Overall, corequisites are a curricular tool intended to align content and support, enabling students to enroll in challenging courses with built-in assistance, while requiring careful planning and institutional coordination.