Course sets

Overview

Course set constraints are one of the core building blocks of Stellic's audits. They allow you to define groups of courses that can fulfill requirements, giving you flexibility in how students satisfy their degree requirements.

Available Course Set Options

When building a course set constraint, you can choose from the following options:

• Specific courses - Select individual courses by name

• Course with attributes - Include courses that have specific attributes

• Course range - Define a range of course numbers (e.g., MATH 100-299)

• Course pattern - Use patterns to match course codes

• Course with topics - Include courses with specific topics

• Course with enrollment tags - Select courses based on enrollment tags

• Specific course with attribute - Combine a specific course with an attribute requirement

• Specific campuses - Limit to courses offered at particular campuses

• Specific departments - Include all courses from designated departments

• Specific schools - Include all courses from designated schools

• Specific levels - Select courses at particular academic levels

Define Course or Credit Requirements

Choose whether students must complete a specific number of courses or earn a certain number of credits to fulfill the requirement.

Unlimited Quantity Option

Set the quantity to "unlimited" to gather all completed courses that meet the requirement. This prevents excess courses from falling into the unmatched category.

Add Conditions to Course Sets

Enhance your course set constraints by adding conditions that provide additional flexibility and control.

Courses Are Hidden Unless Taken

Make specific courses visible only after students complete prerequisite courses.

Important: You must add at least one visible element before adding hidden courses. You cannot create a course set with only hidden elements.

Allow Courses to Count Without Impacting Minimum/Limit

Permit specific courses to bypass the minimum or maximum thresholds you've set in the constraint.

• Minimum applies to "take at least" or "take exactly" constraints, where students must reach a threshold

• Limit applies to "take at most" constraints, where you cap the number of courses or credits

Only Count Courses Taken Within Specific Timeframe

Restrict when students can take courses that fulfill this requirement. Choose from three timeframe options:

• Taken any time prior to and including [term]

• Taken any time between [term x] and [term y]

• Taken any time including [term] to future

Count Courses Before/After Credits Are Earned

Control when courses count based on the number of credits students have already earned. This constraint tracks earned credits only; courses with failing grades or non-repeatable courses that have been repeated don't count toward the total.

Choose from four timing options:

• Same semester or after [y] credits are earned - Count courses taken in the same term as the [y]th credit or any term after

• Any semester after - Count courses only in terms after earning the [y]th credit

• Same semester or before - Count courses taken in the same term as the [y]th credit or any term before

• Any semester before - Count courses only in terms before earning the [y]th credit

Note: You cannot use this condition with "only count courses taken within specific timeframe."

Constraint Types

Primary Constraints: Define What Counts

These constraints establish which courses fulfill requirements.

Take at least [x] courses/credits from a given course set [Primary or Secondary]

Use this when students can choose from multiple options—specific departments, course ranges, or course lists. You can combine different course set types within the same constraint.

Take at least [x] courses/credits excluding the given course set [Primary or Secondary]

Allow any course except those you specify. Use this constraint carefully as a primary constraint, since it permits all courses by default.

Example: Students need 5 courses from anything except CS 100-399 or Mathematics department courses.

Take exactly [x] courses/credits from a given course set [Primary or Secondary]

Combine "take at least" and "take at most" functionality—students must meet the minimum without exceeding it.

For institutions using auto-split functionality, this constraint splits credits beyond the limit so only the specified number counts. This works particularly well for variable credit courses where you want to limit how many credits apply.

Secondary Constraints: Limit What Counts

These constraints restrict which courses can fulfill requirements. You must first define what's allowed to count using a primary constraint.

Take at most [x] courses/credits from a given course set [Secondary Only]

Cap the maximum number of courses students can take from a course set.

Example: Students need at least 9 units from a course list, but can take at most one 100-level course.

Take at most [x] courses/credits excluding the given course set [Secondary Only]

Limit the maximum number of courses students can take from courses outside your specified set.

Only courses with enrollment level: [x] can count towards this program [Program Level & Secondary]

Define which course levels count toward the program. You can specify exceptions for individual courses that count regardless of level.

Note: Use this constraint only at the program level.

Advisor-Defined Constraints

May only be satisfied with a course set manually defined by an institution [Primary]

Let advisors customize the course set for each student. You can set a default course set, but advisors must edit the constraint to change which courses apply to individual students.