All course prerequisites are set by the Academic Division Faculty and are enforced by the college. To be eligible to register for a course that has a prerequisite, students must complete the prerequisite course at Saddleback College or submit an accepted piece of evidence for clearance. In the Class Schedule, course prerequisites are indicated with a padlock symbol below the unit count.

 

Procedures and Requirements for Clearing Prerequisites

Students are responsible for satisfying and/or clearing all prerequisites for any course in which they plan to enroll in prior to their registration date. A prerequisite evaluation can take up to 5 business days to process, so plan ahead. Be sure to submit your evaluation request at least 2 weeks prior to your registration date to avoid registration delays. All prerequisite evaluation requests are completed in the order received.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Students who have submitted official transcripts to Saddleback College Admissions & Records must submit a Prerequisite Evaluation Request. Prerequisite clearance is not automatic.

  1. Acquire and prepare your documents (i.e. transcript or other evidence). The online form allows for two document uploads. If you have multiple files, you will want to combine and save as one PDF file.
  2. Make sure your name and the school name (or logo) are visible on the transcript(s) you are submitting for evaluation. Only transcripts from regionally accredited U.S. colleges/universities and U.S. high schools are accepted. For further detail, click on the links below.
  3. Complete and submit the online Saddleback College Prerequisite Evaluation Request Form.

Checking Your Prerequisite Clearances

For Math, English, and Sign Language, check your MySite student portal under My Information > Matriculation > Placement Info to view your evaluation results. If you see the course you wish to enroll in listed on this page, either under the heading "Placement Course" or "Comments" with an approval note, you are eligible to enroll. Clearance is valid for current and future registration periods at Saddleback College. If you were denied clearance, an explanation will display in "Comments" in the far-right column.

For other department prerequisite evaluations (e.g. BIO, SPAN, CDE, ACCT, etc.), students may be notified by the specific department when the evaluation has been processed.

Students can also check their prerequisite clearances by adding the course(s) they wish to register for into their Saddleback College Shopping Cart (accessible from the Class Schedule) which prompts a Pre-registration check. If the prerequisite has been satisfied or cleared, no prerequisite error messages should display.

NOTE: If a class was added to the shopping cart before requesting clearance, the class must be removed and added back in for a current Pre-registration check.

For questions regarding prerequisites, please contact us via email at scmatric@saddleback.edu or by phone (949) 582-4970.