Abstract:
A computer apparatus is provided for managing a student&#39;s educational curriculum. The apparatus may include a source information module, a mining module, and a planning module. The source information module may create a plurality of institution records, each corresponding uniquely to an educational institution and comprising a catalog and a schedule. The mining module may create a plurality of sets, each set comprising all offered courses contained within the plurality of institutional records that are substantially equivalent to each other in satisfying a degree requirement selected from the degree requirements. The planning module may receive from a user a degree identifier and a constraint reflecting criteria establishing personal priorities of a user. The planning module may further present to the user a list of the required courses corresponding to the selected degree and identifying alternate courses, each alternate course thereof satisfying the constraint and being equivalent to a required course.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/727,798 filed Dec. 4, 2003, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/453,241 filed Jun. 3, 2003. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/727,798 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/453,241 are both hereby incorporated by reference. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    1. The Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    This invention relates to education, and more particularly to apparatus and methods for managing a student&#39;s postsecondary curriculum. 
         [0004]    2. The Background Art 
         [0005]    Throughout the world, America has long been admired for its postsecondary educational system. A postsecondary education most generally refers to programs and institutions with formal instructional programs and curricula designed primarily for students who have completed the requirements for a high school diploma or its equivalent. Although all postsecondary educational institutions may be grouped into a single class of institutions, in reality, these institutions may be quite varied in their offerings. For example, postsecondary educational institutions may range from technical schools conferring terminal occupational certificates or awards that are creditable toward a formal degree in less than two years, to four-year degree-granting institutions conferring recognized degrees that require four or more years to complete, to institutions granting graduate degrees that extend past the four-year mark typical of baccalaureate programs. 
         [0006]    Despite past successes of the postsecondary education system in the United States, many institutions of higher learning, such as colleges and universities, are facing various crises. For example, the university system in California is currently facing a multi-billion dollar budget deficit. Although much of the deficit may be attributed to overspending due to gross miscalculations of future revenues from investments during the “dot.com” boom of the late 1990s, and to the current downturn of the economy, much of the deficit may be attributed to a faulty or non-market-responsive model for providing education. Moreover, the bursting of the “dot.com” bubble has not only caused significant education budget deficits, but has also depleted college and retirement savings of parents who desire to pay for their children&#39;s education. 
         [0007]    Much of the failure of the postsecondary educational system as a delivery vehicle for education may be attributed to the fact that the system has been designed as a business model targeting growth and full employment of its departments, rather than an educational model. Some have been so brash as to label the postsecondary educational system “Education Inc.” 
         [0008]    Certain flaws in the postsecondary education system may exacerbate the problem. For example, a student approaching a college or university is many times referred to a counselor for advisement. These counselors are typically employees or faculty members of the college or university in question. This creates several conflicts of interest. 
         [0009]    For example, an employee or faculty member may be biased to advise a prospective student to take classes or participate in courses of study in that persons department, college or university, despite the fact that a more suitable curriculum, in terms of content, focus, cost, location, availability, quality, and the like, may be found at another institution, college, or department. This may result in the student receiving a non-ideal curriculum. A degree that could have taken only four years to complete, may take six years. Classes that may have been taken closer to a student&#39;s home, are taken at a more distant institution and at a greater cost. Scenarios such as these may occur because a student has not been provided important information. In fact, there is currently very little comparative shopping occurring between services offered at different educational institutions, or even between colleges or departments within a single university. 
         [0010]    Those in business realize the advantages to having multiple vendors or suppliers for a particular product. Maintaining multiple vendors helps to ensure that a product is regularly purchased at the lowest cost, highest quality, and the like. Thus, what are needed are apparatus and methods to create and apply a consumer-oriented model to the postsecondary educational systems extant. 
         [0011]    Competition or equal availability between different educational institutions may enable a student to compare and shop for services offered by those educational institutions. Thus, a student may optimize selected preferences such as his or her class schedule, days of the week to take classes, tuition costs, location or timing of courses, and the like. In a sense, what are needed are apparatus and methods to compare features of courses and degree programs as one would compare products, to provide some standard characteristics comparable to those of other commodities. 
         [0012]    Therefore, what are needed are apparatus and methods to enable a prospective student to shop for education products or services offered by various educational institutions. 
         [0013]    Moreover, what are further needed are apparatus and methods to enable a student to mix and match courses and requirements offered by distinct educational institutions towards completion of a customized or personalized degree program desired. 
         [0014]    What is further needed are apparatus and methods to standardize nomenclature used by various institutions for identifying selected types of information and “product” descriptions. 
         [0015]    Further needed are apparatus and methods for classifying the information with nomenclature, such that it may be extracted for comparison, and ultimately, for selection and “product” design by individuals. 
         [0016]    Also needed are apparatus and methods to enable a student to select preferences with respect to curriculum scheduling, cost, location, and the like. A curriculum for obtaining a degree may then be designed and optimized in accordance with a student&#39;s preferences, goals, limitations, or needs. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY AND OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION 
       [0017]    Consistent with the foregoing objects, and in accordance with the invention as embodied and broadly described herein, a method for creating and managing, by a student, an individually customized curriculum of study across multiple educational offerings is disclosed. This method may include selecting, by a student, graduation criteria established by a course catalog corresponding to an educational institution. The graduation criteria may then be organized into a tree structure establishing a hierarchy of requirements to satisfy the graduation criteria. The method may further include mining, over a network, catalog information contained in the course catalog. Information may then be selected from the catalog information to populate the tree structure with courses satisfying the graduation criteria in accordance with the course catalog. 
         [0018]    A method in accordance with the invention may subsequently include mining, over the network, other catalog information contained in another course catalog corresponding to another educational institution. Course information may then be selected from this second catalog&#39;s information to populate the tree structure with courses satisfying the graduation criteria in accordance with the original course catalog consulted and relied upon. 
         [0019]    In order to effectively mine the catalog information over a network, analogous information within each catalog&#39;s information may be coded with standardized codes to enable comparison of analogous information. Coding may include identifying or labeling information in each catalog&#39;s information with XML tags, and providing the information in the form of XML pages available on the network. 
         [0020]    In certain embodiments, coding may include embedding XML tags into existing source code of HTML pages containing catalog information. In other embodiments, coding may include creating, by a third party independent from the educational institutions, XML pages identifying information in the catalog&#39;s information with XML tags. 
         [0021]    Information in the first and second catalog information may then be mined, over a network, by searching the standardized codes. In certain embodiments, the equivalency of courses offered by the educational institutions may be determined. 
         [0022]    A student may also, by a method in accordance with the invention, select preferences with respect to courses used to populate the tree structure. For example, these preferences may be preferred times, preferred days, cost, credit hour load, desired time to graduate, preferred locations to take courses, and the like. 
         [0023]    Scheduling information may be gathered with respect to courses used to populate the tree structure. A class schedule may then be created for a student in accordance with the preferences and the scheduling information. 
         [0024]    In certain embodiments the graduation criteria selected by the student may include selecting a department or college within an institution, and selecting a degree program offered by the department or college. The selection of graduation criteria will typically depend upon selecting degree program requirements, university graduation requirements, prerequisite requirements, general education requirements, departmental requirements, elective requirements, upper division credit requirements, lower division credit requirements, course mixture requirements, and the like. 
         [0025]    In certain embodiments, a method in accordance with the invention may further include importing existing credits of the student into the tree structure prior to populating the tree structure. Likewise, the invention may be implemented over any network, such as the Internet, or virtual Internet structure stored on mass storage media such as a CD-ROM, DVD, or the like. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0026]    The foregoing and other objects and features of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Understanding that these drawings depict only typical embodiments in accordance with the invention and are, therefore, not to be considered limiting of its scope, the invention will be described with additional specificity and detail through use of the accompanying drawings in which: 
           [0027]      FIG. 1  is a schematic block diagram illustrating one embodiment of a computer system in accordance with the invention; 
           [0028]      FIG. 2  is a schematic block diagram illustrating one embodiment of the organization of an educational institution and factors that may motivate a student to attend an educational institution; 
           [0029]      FIG. 3  is a schematic block diagram illustrating one embodiment of a catalog and a schedule provided by an educational institution; 
           [0030]      FIG. 4  is a schematic block diagram illustrating one embodiment of institutional curriculum information support provided by an educational institution; 
           [0031]      FIG. 5  is a schematic block diagram illustrating one embodiment of a hierarchy or flow diagram of courses taken by a student to complete a degree program; 
           [0032]      FIG. 6  is a schematic block diagram illustrating one embodiment of a degree tree structure depicting requirements and relationships between requirements corresponding to a selected course of study or degree program; 
           [0033]      FIG. 7  is a schematic block diagram illustrating one embodiment of a process for identifying degree program information and course information offered by multiple educational institutions, mining the information, and planning a course of study using the information; 
           [0034]      FIG. 8  is a flow chart illustrating one embodiment of a process that may be used to create and distribute a standardized nomenclature for identifying various types of information with respect to an educational institution; 
           [0035]      FIG. 9  is a flow chart illustrating one embodiment of a process for identifying types of information at educational institutions using XML tags; 
           [0036]      FIG. 10  is a schematic block diagram illustrating one embodiment of standardized XML tags used to identify various types of information within XML pages; 
           [0037]      FIG. 11  is a schematic block diagram illustrating one embodiment of information corresponding to various educational institutions made available on a network, such as the Internet, and means for accessing, mining, and using the information; and 
           [0038]      FIG. 12  is a schematic block diagram illustrating one embodiment of a process followed by an expert system in accordance with the invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0039]    It will be readily understood that the components of the present invention, as generally described and illustrated in the Figures herein, could be arranged and designed in a wide variety of different configurations. Thus, the following more detailed description of the embodiments of systems and methods in accordance with the present invention, as represented in  FIGS. 1 through 12 , is not intended to limit the scope of the invention, as claimed, but is merely representative of certain examples of presently contemplated embodiments in accordance with the invention. The presently described embodiments will be best understood by reference to the drawings, wherein like parts are designated by like numerals throughout. 
         [0040]    Many of the functional units described in this specification have been labeled as modules, in order to more particularly emphasize their implementation independence. For example, modules may be implemented in software for execution by various types of processors. An identified module of executable code may, for instance, comprise one or more physical or logical blocks of computer instructions which may, for instance, be organized as an object, procedure, or function. Nevertheless, the executables of an identified module need not be physically located together, but may comprise disparate instructions stored in different locations which, when joined logically together, comprise the module and achieve the stated purpose for the module. For example, a module of executable code could be a single instruction, or many instructions, and may even be distributed over several different code segments, among different programs, and across several memory devices. 
         [0041]    Modules may also be implemented in hardware as electronic circuits comprising custom VLSI circuitry, off-the-shelf semiconductors such as logic chips, transistors, or other discrete components. A module may also be implemented in programmable hardware devices such as field programmable gate arrays, programmable array logic, programmable logic devices or the like. 
         [0042]    Similarly, operational data may be identified and illustrated herein within modules, and may be embodied in any suitable form and organized within any suitable type of data structure. The operational data may be collected as a single data set, or may be distributed over different locations including over different storage devices, and may exist, at least partially, merely as electronic signals on a system or network. 
         [0043]    Referring to  FIG. 1 , an apparatus  10  may implement the invention on one or more nodes  11 , (client  11 , computer  11 ) containing a processor  12  (CPU  12 ). All components may exist in a single node  11  or may exist in multiple nodes  11 ,  52  remote from one another. The CPU  12  may be operably connected to a memory device  14 . A memory device  14  may include one or more devices such as a hard drive or other non-volatile storage device  16 , a read-only memory  18  (ROM  18 ) and a random access (and usually volatile) memory  20  (RAM  20  or operational memory  20 ). 
         [0044]    The apparatus  10  may include an input device  22  for receiving inputs from a user or from another device. Similarly, an output device  24  may be provided within the node  11 , or accessible within the apparatus  10 . A network card  26  (interface card) or port  28  may be provided for connecting to outside devices, such as the network  30 . 
         [0045]    Internally, a bus  32 , or multiple buses  32 , may operably interconnect the processor  12 , memory devices  14 , input devices  22 , output devices  24 , network card  26  and port  28 . The bus  32  may be thought of as a data carrier. As such, the bus  32  may be embodied in numerous configurations. Wire, fiber optic line, wireless electromagnetic communications by visible light, infrared, and radio frequencies may likewise be implemented as appropriate for the bus  32  and the network  30 . 
         [0046]    Input devices  22  may include one or more physical embodiments. For example, a keyboard  34  may be used for interaction with the user, as may a mouse  36  or stylus pad  37 . A touch screen  38 , a telephone  39 , or simply a telecommunications line  39 , may be used for communication with other devices, with a user, or the like. Similarly, a scanner  40  may be used to receive graphical inputs, which may or may not be translated to other formats. The hard drive  41  or other memory device  41  may be used as an input device whether resident within the node  11  or some other node  52  (e.g.  52 ,  54 , etc.) on the network  30 , or from another network  50 . 
         [0047]    Output devices  24  may likewise include one or more physical hardware units. For example, in general, the port  28  may be used to accept inputs into and send outputs from the node  11 . Nevertheless, a monitor  42  may provide outputs to a user for feedback during a process, or for assisting two-way communication between the processor  12  and a user. A printer  44 , a hard drive  46 , or other device may be used for outputting information as output devices  24 . 
         [0048]    In general, a network  30  to which a node  11  connects may, in turn, be connected through a router  48  to another network  50 . In general, two nodes  11 ,  52  may be on a network  30 , adjoining networks  30 ,  50 , or may be separated by multiple routers  48  and multiple networks  50  as individual nodes  11 ,  52  on an internetwork. The individual nodes  52  (e.g.  11 ,  48 ,  52 ,  54 ) may have various communication capabilities. 
         [0049]    In certain embodiments, a minimum of logical capability may be available in any node  52 . Note that any of the individual nodes  11 ,  48 ,  52 ,  54  may be referred to, as may all together, as a node  11  or a node  52 . Each may contain a processor  12  with more or less of the other components  14 - 46 . 
         [0050]    A network  30  may include one or more servers  54 . Servers may be used to manage, store, communicate, transfer, access, update, and the like, any practical number of files, databases, or the like for other nodes  52  on a network  30 . Typically, a server  54  may be accessed by all nodes  11 ,  52  on a network  30 . Nevertheless, other special functions, including communications, applications, directory services, and the like, may be implemented by an individual server  54  or multiple servers  54 . 
         [0051]    In general, a node  11  may need to communicate over a network  30  with a server  54 , a router  48 , or nodes  52 . Similarly, a node  11  may need to communicate over another network ( 50 ) in an internetwork connection with some remote node  52 . Likewise, individual components  12 - 46  may need to communicate data with one another. A communication link may exist, in general, between any pair of devices. 
         [0052]    Referring to  FIG. 2 , an educational institution  60  may be organized in such a way as to divide its curriculum into specialties or degree programs. Moreover, an educational institution  60  may have various characteristics that might motivate a student to pursue a degree or a certificate at that institution  60 . 
         [0053]    For example, an educational institution  60  may be organized into multiple departments  62 , colleges  62 , and the like, thereby providing a prospective student a variety of educational offerings. Likewise, each department  62  may offer several degrees  64   a - c  typically related to one another. Similarly, other departments  62   b ,  62   c  within the institution  60  may offer various related degrees programs  64   d - i , or courses of study  64   d - i . Typically, such as when attending a four-year postsecondary institution  60 , a student attends with the goal of achieving a degree  64  offered by the institution  60 , or departments  62  contained therein. 
         [0054]    Most educational institutions  60  provide a catalog  66  to current and prospective students defining requirements for earning a degree  64  from the institution  60 . In fact, the catalog  66 , as of the date of a student&#39;s admission, may be considered a contract between the student and the institution  60  defining the requirements on each of the parties. 
         [0055]    Certain factors may influence a student to attend one educational institution  60  as opposed to another  60 . Because of differences in faculty, reputation  68 , courses offered  70 , tuition expenses  72 , accreditation  74 , location  76 , and other factors  78  like cost and schedule, a degree at one educational institution  60  may be valued or sought more by a student, an employer, or society in general, than a degree at another educational institution  60 . Thus, whatever the path may be, a student may desire that the end award or degree be granted from a preferred institution  60 . For example, although a student may attend a community college or earn credits from other institutions  60 , a student may desire to transfer those credits to a preferred educational institution  60  toward a selected degree  64  at that institution  60 . 
         [0056]    As stated, the reputation  68  of an educational institution  60  may be an important factor when choosing an educational institution  60  from which to graduate. Reputation  68  may be a rather subjective measurement. For example, because of an institution&#39;s faculty members, ranking by an independent reporting agency, supposed intelligence of attending students, diversity, or the like, it may be perceived that a degree  64  from a particular institution  60  is more valuable to a student than another. Thus, a student may desire a degree at a selected institution  60  for no other reason other than its reputation  68 , or any other single perceived advantage that may come as a result. 
         [0057]    Other factors that may influence a student to pursue a degree or to take courses at a particular educational institution  60  may include courses  70  or degrees  64  offered by the institution  60 , and affordability of tuition expenses  72 . In addition, an institution&#39;s accreditation  74  may be important. That is, in certain fields or occupations, a degree  64  may be required from an institution  60  that is accredited by a government agency, an independent agency, or the like. 
         [0058]    In certain instances, an institution&#39;s location  76  may be the most important factor to a student when selecting an educational institution  60 . Some students may have the aptitude or credentials to attend a more distinguished or reputable institution  60 , but may choose an institution  60  simply because of its proximity to home or family Likewise, other factors  78  may be important to a student when choosing an educational institution  60  from which to graduate. 
         [0059]    Referring to  FIG. 3 , a catalog  66  may contain information and requirements necessary to graduate from a particular institution  60 . For example, a catalog  66  may contain a number of degree requirements  80 . Degree requirements  80  may include various criteria necessary for a student to graduate from a particular college  62  or department within the institution  60 . For example, degree requirements may include required general education courses  84 . A student may be required to complete many of these courses  84  before being accepted into an upper division program or into a particular department  62  or college  62  within an institution  60 . 
         [0060]    Several categories of courses may be classified as general education courses  84 . For example, general education courses  84  may include federally mandated courses  84 , state mandated courses  84 , or courses  84  mandated by a particular institution  60 . In addition, an institution  60  may require that a certain number of credit hours or a certain percentage of a student&#39;s overall curriculum be comprised of general education courses  84 . 
         [0061]    Degree requirements  80  may also include required departmental courses  86  teaching subject matter relevant to a chosen degree program  64 . Departmental requirements  86  may include courses or requirements that are required by a department  62  or college  62  within the institution  60 . Finally, degree requirements  80  may include electives  88 . Electives  88  usually refer to courses or requirements that may or may not be related to a particular degree  64 , but may be selected at the discretion or interest of a student. 
         [0062]    Degree requirements  80  may include criteria such as a student&#39;s grade point average (GPA)  90 . That is, unless a student has achieved a specified GPA  90 , he or she may not be admitted into a department  62  or college  62  within the institution  60 . Thus, several layers of admission may exist after initial admission into an educational institution  60 . In addition, other actions  92  or criteria  92  may be required to satisfy degree requirements  80 . 
         [0063]    A catalog  66  may also include graduation requirements  82  necessary for graduation from a selected institution  60 . Graduation requirements  82  may include requirements with respect to the transfer of credits  94  from one institution  60  to another, requirements for upper division credits  96 , credits earned during residency  98 , a mixture  100  of courses, and other requirements  102 . 
         [0064]    Because different institutions  60  may offer different degree programs  64 , courses taken at one institution  60  may or may not readily be accepted for credit at another institution  60 . Thus, a student may lose a certain number of credits earned at one institution  60  when transferring to another  60 . Graduation requirements  82  may also include a number of upper division credits  96 . That is, certain classes may be designated as upper and lower division courses, each satisfying different requirements. 
         [0065]    Graduation requirements  82  may also include certain residency requirements  98 . That is, although an institution  60  may accept a certain number of transfer credits  94 , the institution  60  may also require that a certain number of courses be taken at the graduating institution  60 . These requirements  98  may exist to ensure that an institution  60  receives compensation for and control of granting a degree  64 . In other instances, graduation requirements  82  may require a certain mix  100  of courses within a particular degree program  64 . That is, an institution  60  may require that courses such as general education courses  84 , departmental courses  86 , and elective courses  88 , be taken in specified proportions as part of a degree program  64 . Likewise, other requirements  102  may be specified, as needed, to satisfy graduation requirements  82 . 
         [0066]    A catalog  66  may specify certain prerequisites  104  such as admission or matriculation prerequisites  106 , and course work prerequisites  108 . For example, admission or matriculation prerequisites  106  may include requirements for selected high school credits  110 , proficiency in a native or second language  112 , entrance exam scores  114  such as an SAT or ACT score  114 , high school GPA  116 , or other prerequisites  118 . Course work prerequisites  108  may refer to course work  108  needed to be admitted into a selected institution  60 . Course work prerequisites  108  may include requirements for a selected GPA  120  earned taking a course, series of courses, or course of study, approval  122  from an authority to give credit to a selected course, or other requirements  124 . 
         [0067]    A catalog  66  may also include a list of courses  126  offered by an institution  60 . Each course  126  may be assigned a course number  128 , a number of credit hours  130 , a description  132  of subject matter taught by the course  126 , classes that satisfy prerequisite or co-requisite requirements  134  of the course  126 , and the like. 
         [0068]    A course schedule  136  will usually be issued periodically by an institution  60 . The course schedule  136  may contain information needed to register for and attend selected courses  126 . Since a course schedule  136  may be dependent on a number of factors, the schedule  136  is typically provided separately and at a later time than the catalog  66 . For example, the course schedule  136  may be dependent on the availability of faculty, student demand, classroom availability, and the like. The schedule  136  may provide course numbers  138  corresponding to each course  126 , days and times  140  courses  126  are offered, credit hours  142  assigned to each course  126 , faculty  144  assigned to each course, location  146  of each course, and other information  148 , as needed. 
         [0069]    Referring to  FIG. 4 , various entities within an educational institution  60  may be responsible for providing institutional curriculum information support  150 . Moreover, various methods for distribution of institutional curriculum may be used. For example, an institution  60  may produce hard copies  152  of catalogs  160 , graduation guidelines  162 , and course schedules  164 . One advantage of hard copies  152  is that they may be distributed through the mail, as well as provide a tangible record of institutional curriculum. In addition, hard copies  152  may provide the primary means of providing information to those lacking electronic means of communication, such as the Internet. Since catalog  160  and graduation guidelines  162  are usually created far in advance of and less frequently than documents such as course schedules  164 , they will typically be separate documents  160 ,  162 . 
         [0070]    As the Internet and other electronic communication means become more prevalent, online copies  154  of catalogs  160  and course schedules  164  may often be provided. These online copies  154  may be provided in the form of HTML pages, 166 posted on the Internet, or other documents posted online on an institution&#39;s intranet. Many institutions  60  may design elaborate web sites consisting of numerous pages connected by hyperlinks. However, since few standards exist for uniformly presenting educational information, desired information may be hard to find. Thus, apparatus and methods are needed to mine or extract information corresponding to selected institutions  60 , such that it may be easily viewed, organized, and compared by individuals. 
         [0071]    In certain instances, an institution  60  may maintain a master template copy  156  of institutional curriculum. The master template copy  156  may be used so persons or entities within the institution  60  may add, modify, or delete information from the institution&#39;s catalogs  160 , graduation guidelines  162 , or schedules  164 , as needed. The master template copy  156  may be formatted for printing as a hard copy  152 , or online copy  154 . Information in the master template copy  156  may be stored in a database  158  in the form of records  168 . Each record  168  may correspond to a particular department  62 , degree  64 , course  70 , student, faculty member, or the like. 
         [0072]    Referring to  FIG. 5 , courses  172  may be organized into a hierarchy  173 . The hierarchy  173  illustrates an order or sequence of courses  172  that should be taken by a student. These courses  172  satisfy graduation  82  and degree  80  requirements provided by the catalog  66 . For example, the hierarchy  173  may be divided into general education courses  84 , lower division major courses  170 , and upper division major courses  96 . Electives  88  may also be required to earn a degree  64  and graduate from an institution  60 . However, these electives  88  may or may not be taken at any time during a degree program  64  and, therefore, are left out of the hierarchy  173  in this example. 
         [0073]    For example, a student may need to take a specified number of general education courses  84 . General education courses  84  may provide a basis or foundation for further study, and may also indicate a student&#39;s ability to succeed in upper division courses  96  in a degree program  64 . Once general education courses  84  are completed, a student may or may not be admitted into a college  62  or department  62  to finish a degree program  64 . Lower division major courses  170  may or may not be taken by a student before being admitted into a particular degree program  64 . Lower division major courses  170  may include those courses  170  directly applicable to the student&#39;s degree program  64 . In addition, lower division major courses  170  may serve as prerequisites for upper division major courses  96 . 
         [0074]    Upper division major courses  96  refer to those courses  96  directly applicable toward a selected degree program  64 . Upper division major courses  96  are usually more advanced courses  96  taken during the final two years of a four-year degree program  64 . The courses  84 , including the general education  84 , lower division major  170 , and upper division major courses  96 , may be used to satisfy requirements  174   a ,  174   b  prescribed by the graduation  82  and degree  80  requirements. Once these requirement  174  are satisfied, a student should be entitled to a degree  64 . 
         [0075]    Referring to  FIG. 6 , while continuing to refer generally to  FIG. 5 , requirements  175  may be organized into a degree dependency graph, such as a degree tree structure  180 . A degree tree structure  180  simply represents one example of a dependency graph that may be used in accordance with the invention. Other types of dependency graphs may include linked lists, double linked lists, content-addressable memory structures, networks, or other topologies. 
         [0076]    A degree tree structure  180  may be considered a map or path to earn a degree  64 . For example, requirements  175  or entries  175  within a degree tree structure  180  may be satisfied by general education  84 , lower division major  170 , upper division major  96 , and elective courses  88  satisfying the graduation  82  and degree  88  requirements. The degree tree structure  180  may show relationships between requirements  175 , such as prerequisites  175   a  for other courses  175   c.    
         [0077]    Likewise, other courses  175   d ,  175   e  may be corequisites within the degree tree structure  180 . Some courses  175   f  may serve as prerequisites for multiple other courses  175   g - j . If desired, the degree structure  180  may be divided up into a series of quarters, trimesters, or semesters  182   a - c  so a time may be estimated for completing a degree  64 . 
         [0078]    For example, selected courses may be taken during a first semester  182  while other selected courses may be taken during a second semester  182   b  Likewise, the degree tree structure  180  may be divided into courses  184  taken before admission to a degree program  64 , and courses  186  that are taken after admission to a degree program  64 . Various requirements  175  within the degree tree structure  180  may be satisfied by several different courses  126 . Others may be satisfied only by completing a specific course. 
         [0079]    As stated, the degree tree structure  180  represents a path or map to complete a degree  64  at a selected institution  60 . However, once the degree tree structure  180  is established, a student may be able to satisfy particular requirements  175  at other more preferred institutions  60 . Thus, once the degree tree structure  180  is established, a student may be able to take courses  126  at another institution  60 . This may enable a student to more efficiently achieve a degree  64 . 
         [0080]    Referring to  FIG. 7 , a process  188  for managing a student&#39;s curriculum may include a source information module  190 , a mining module  192 , a planning module  198 , and a degree tree structure  180 . A source information module  190  may gather information from multiple institutions  60   a - c . Catalogs  66   a - c  and course schedules  136   a - c  may be gathered from each institution  60   a - c.    
         [0081]    The information from catalogs  66   a - c  and course schedules  136   a - c  may be sought or otherwise received by a mining module  192 . The mining module  192  may search the catalog  66   a - c  and course schedule  136   a - c  information for information relevant to a student&#39;s degree program  64 . For example, certain requirements within a student&#39;s degree program  64  may be satisfied by a course  194   a  offered by several different institutions  196   a . A list  196   a  may be compiled to include institutions  196   a  offering selected courses  194   a  or their equivalents  194   a.    
         [0082]    Likewise, with respect to other courses  194   b ,  194   c , lists of institutions  196   b ,  196   c  offering the course  194   b ,  194   c  or an equivalent  194   b ,  194   c  may be compiled. The lists  196   a - 196   c  may contain several institutions  60  in common or others  60  that are unique to a single list  196   a - c.    
         [0083]    Once relevant information is extracted by the mining module  192 , the information may be received by a planning module  198 . A planning module  198  may process the information, including courses  126  and course schedules  136   a - c , to satisfy requirements in the degree tree structure  180 . A planning module  198  may be composed of various modules, including, but not limited to, a presentation module  200 , an I/O module  202 , a processing module  204 , a criteria module  205 , and an interrogatories module  206 . 
         [0084]    A presentation module  200  may present, to a user, information corresponding to courses  126 , degree programs  64 , course schedules  136 , catalogs  66 , and the like for a selected institution  60  or institutions  60 . The presentation module  200  may further present to a student, a degree tree structure  180  and courses  126  used to satisfy requirements within the tree structure  180 . An I/O module  202  may have the primary task of inputting and outputting information on courses  126 , degree programs  64 , institutions  60 , course schedules  136 , catalogs  66 , degree tree structures  180 , and the like from the planning module  198 . 
         [0085]    A processing module  204  may process information on courses  126 , degree programs  64 , course schedules  136 , and the like, and may optimize the information to fit within a student&#39;s degree tree structure  180 . A criteria module  205  may work in coordination with the processing module  204  to compare information received from the mining module  192  to certain criteria and preferences selected by a student. Finally, an interrogatories module  206  may receive from a student, or other individual, preferences such as schedule, cost, location, credit hour load, and the like, with respect to selected courses  126 , degree programs  64 , institutions  60 , and the like. 
         [0086]    Referring to  FIG. 8 , dissimilar words, terminology, or concepts used to describe the same information or idea may decrease the efficiency of finding and using the information. Information known to one individual may go undiscovered by another individual simply because he or she has failed to identify or search for the proper words, terminology, or concepts. For example, with respect to educational institutions  60 , information with respect to courses  126 , degree programs  64 , and the like, may be described very differently, thus making the extraction or comparison of such information very difficult. In order to overcome this difficulty, standardized nomenclature is needed to identify like information from different educational institutions  60 . 
         [0087]    A process  210  for describing institutional information with standardized words, terminology, and concepts, such that it may be easily extracted and compared, may include creating a standardized nomenclature  212 . The standardized nomenclature  212  may classify types of information within an educational institution  60 . For example, terms within a standardized nomenclature  212  may be created for institutions  60 , catalogs  66 , departments  62 , degrees  64 , courses  126 , information corresponding to courses  126 , course schedules  136 , and the like. 
         [0088]    A process  210  may or may not include a step for protecting the nomenclature  214 . Protecting the nomenclature  214  may include acquiring patents, copyrights, trademarks, or the like necessary to protect and maintain the integrity of a system of words, terminology, concepts, and the like, used to construct a standardized nomenclature  212 . 
         [0089]    Once the nomenclature  212  is created, it may be distributed  216  to various educational institutions  60  offering courses  126 , degree programs  64 , and the like. Distribution  216  may include providing reference materials to each educational institution  60 , identifying terminology within the nomenclature  212 , and identifying information it is intended to classify. Once distributed  216 , the process  210  may optionally include a step to motivate  218  use of the nomenclature  212 . Motivation  218  may include providing incentives, information, materials, educational workshops, seminars, and the like, informing institutions  60  of the benefits of adopting the nomenclature  212 . The creator of the nomenclature may also incorporate suggestions  218 , received from educational institutions  60 , into the nomenclature  212 . Incorporating suggestions  218  may include modifying, adding, or deleting terms or terminology from the nomenclature  212 . 
         [0090]    Once adopted, information such as course information, degree information, course schedule information, institutional information, faculty information, and the like may be classified  220  according to the nomenclature  212 . Classification  220  may include labeling or identifying information within an institution  60  using the nomenclature  212 . Once the information is classified  220 , the information may be made available, such as on the Internet, to students, prospective students, or organizations dedicated to gathering, comparing, and providing educational information to the public. 
         [0091]    The information available from institutions may then be mined  224  by searching for information with respect to institutions  60 , courses  126 , degrees  64 , course schedules  136 , and the like, using the nomenclature  212 . For example, mining may occur over the Internet. Mining  224  may include extracting from all available information, the desired and relevant information, such as information corresponding to courses  126 , degree programs  64 , institutions  60 , catalogs  66 , course schedules  136 , and the like, that is organizable and comparable. 
         [0092]    Referring to  FIG. 9 , for example, in one embodiment, a process  230  for providing a standardized nomenclature to an educational institution  60  may include creating a standardized set of XML tags  232 . XML is a standard for describing data that may be used to define data elements in web pages and documents transmitted between businesses. XML, similar to HTML, uses tags to identify certain types of data. However, whereas HTML is used primarily to define how elements are displayed, XML may be used to define what type of data those elements contain. In addition, whereas HTML uses predefined tags, XML allows tags to be defined, as needed, by a developer. Thus, data items such as an institution  60 , departments  62  or colleges  62  within an institution  60 , degrees  64 , courses  126 , course schedules  136 , and the like, may be identified with standardized tags in accordance with the invention. 
         [0093]    Once standardized tags  232  are created, the tags may optionally be protected  234 . For example, as described previously standards, publications, agreements, patents, copyrights, trademarks, and the like, may be used to provide some degree of integrity and protection  234 . Subsequently, the tags may be distributed  236  to various educational institutions  60 . Distribution  236  may include providing education and reference materials describing the tags and information to be identified by the tags. 
         [0094]    Once the tags are distributed  236 , the process  230  may optionally include motivating the institution  60  to use the tags. In addition, a creator of the tags may optionally incorporate, into the tags  232 , suggestions received from institutions  60 . Once the tags  232  are distributed  236 , institutions  60  or other organizations may classify  240  information such as courses  126 , degrees  64 , course schedules  136 , institutions  60 , and like information with the tags  232 . 
         [0095]    Classifying  240  information may include taking information included in HTML web pages of an institution  60  and creating XML pages identifying the same information with XML tags  232 . In other embodiments, an institution  60  may simply embed XML tags  232  within existing HTML pages. In other embodiments, an organization or entity independent from an educational institution  60  may acquire information from an institution  60  from hard copies, HTML pages, or the like, and identify information within these sources with XML tags  232 . 
         [0096]    Once information is classified  240  with the XML tags  232 , the information may be posted  242  online, such as over a subscription service or on the Internet, where it may be accessed and mined by individuals and organizations. Mining data  244  may refer to the process of extracting, comparing, organizing, presenting, and the like, information corresponding to educational institutions  60  identified by the XML tags  232 . 
         [0097]    Referring to  FIG. 10 , XML pages  250  may be created to identify various types of information  252 . For example, in one embodiment, XML pages  250  may include tags  252  to identify information corresponding to an institution  252   a , a catalog  252   b  currently used at an institution  60 , a department  252   c  within such an institution  60 , a degree  252   d  offered by a department  252   c  or college  252   c , hours  252   e  needed to graduate with a selected degree, and the like. Within a selected degree, tags  252  identifying general education  252   f , departmental  252   g , and elective  252   h  courses may be provided. In certain embodiments, hours  252   i  and courses  252   j  corresponding to these requirements  252   f - h  may also be provided. 
         [0098]    In a similar manner, XML pages  250  may include tags  252   k  identifying courses  126  offered by a particular institution  60 . The course tags  252   k  may include other descriptive tags  252   p  including but not limited to credit hours corresponding to the course, description of subject matter taught by the course, prerequisites of the course, co-requisites of the course, and the like. Likewise, other XML pages  250  may include course schedule  136  information. For example, a course schedule tag  252   m  may identify scheduling information corresponding to a course  126 . In addition, other tags  252   r  may identify a time that a course  126  is offered, days that a course  126  is offered, faculty teaching a course, locations where a course is taught, and the like. Likewise, any of multiple other tags  252   n  may be provided, as needed, to provide selected information. 
         [0099]    Like HTML tags, XML tags may include a beginning tag  252   a  and an ending tag  253   a  that enclose information  254  or data  254  therebetween. For example, institution tags  252   a ,  253   a  may enclose the name of a university, such as the “University of Utah.” Likewise, catalog tags  252   b ,  253   b  may enclose the year of a particular catalog  66  being described. Department tags  250   c ,  253   c  may enclose the name of a department or college. Each of the other tags  252   d - r  may enclose specific information, as needed. 
         [0100]    Thus, the use of XML tags  252  or a standardized nomenclature  212  may facilitate the mining and comparison of information corresponding to different educational institutions  60  by a student or other individual. The tags  252  are simply presented by way of example and do not constitute an exhaustive list of all possible tags  252  that may be used. Therefore, the illustrated tags  252  are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. In reality, a seemingly innumerable number of tags  252  could be established to identify various types of information corresponding to educational institutions  60 , the likes of which are intended to be captured within the scope of the present invention. 
         [0101]    In addition to XML pages  250 , other pages  260  may be provided as needed in accordance with the invention. For example, pages  260  containing XSL  262 , or extensible style sheet language  262 , may be used to specify the style or manner of display of XML data. The XSL specification  262  may function as a style template, thereby enabling a designer to apply a single style to multiple XML pages  250 . DTD  264 , or document type definition  264 , may be used to define tags and attributes used to describe content in an XML or HTML document. The DTD specification  264  may define those tags that are allowed as well as tags that may appear within other tags Likewise, DOM  266 , or document object model  266 , may specify how objects in a web page are represented. This specification  266  enables programs and scripts to update the content, structure, and style of HTML and XML documents. 
         [0102]    Referring to  FIG. 11 , as described previously, institutions  60  may make information coded with XML tags available over a network, such as the Internet  271 . For example, multiple institutions  60  may provide information on multiple servers  270   a - c . Each of these servers  270   a - c , may store and serve XML pages  250   a - c  containing information corresponding to each individual institution  60 . This information may be made available to persons or entities having access to the Internet  271 . 
         [0103]    In another embodiment, a selected institution  60  may embed or retrofit existing HTML pages  272   a  with XML tags  274  identifying information within the pages  272   a . An institution  60  may then place these pages  272   a  on a server  270   d , where they may be served over the Internet  271 . Likewise, in another embodiment, an institution  60  may refuse to or be unable to provide information identified with XML tags  252 . Such an institution  60  may choose to exclusively provide HTML pages  272   b  on the Internet  271 . In this instance, a party or entity independent from the institution  60  may take information from the institution&#39;s HTML pages  272   b  and code the information with XML tags  252 . In certain embodiments, a user having a computer  276  may be able to access any of the information stored on the servers  270   a - e  through a browser  278 . 
         [0104]    A student-centered, cross-institutional curriculum management system  280  may be used to mine data from the servers  270   a - e  for use in managing a student&#39;s curriculum. In certain embodiments, the management system  280  may include a web search engine  282 , a mining engine  284 , an equivalency module  286 , an expert system  288 , a comparison or organization module  290 , a user interface  292 , a database  294 , and other modules  296 . 
         [0105]    For example, a web search engine  282  may be specifically tailored to search for information offered by educational institutions  60  on web servers  270   a - e . In presently contemplated embodiments, the web search engine  282  may enable a student to search for information corresponding to selected institutions  60 , degree programs  64 , courses  126 , and the like. A mining engine  284  may include a page parser  298 , a crawler  300 , an indexing module  302 , and the like. For example, a page parser  298  may be programmed to parse XML pages  250   a - c ,  274 , or other available data located on the Internet  271 , to extract desired information sought with respect to education. The page parser  298  may work with an indexing module  302  to identify and index information identified by tags  252  in the XML pages  250 . In addition, a crawler  300  may be provided to scour the Internet  271  for information corresponding to educational institutions  60 , degree programs  64 , courses  126 , and the like. 
         [0106]    The management system  280  may also include an equivalency module  286  to determine the equivalency of degree programs  64  and courses  126  offered by different institutions  60 . For example, although institutions  60  may offer courses  126  of identical or similar subject matter, these courses  126  may be identified with distinct course numbering systems. Thus, in certain embodiments, the equivalency module  286  may function by comparing the content of these courses  126  to identify equivalency therebetween. In certain cases, equivalency may be determined by specific policies of educational institutions  60  with respect to the transfer of credits therebetween. 
         [0107]    The management system  280  may also include an expert system  288  to assist a student in planning, optimizing, and completing a degree program  64 . The expert system  288  may identify selected preferences that a student may have with respect to a selected curriculum, and may plan the curriculum by retrieving information in accordance with the preferences. 
         [0108]    The management system  280  may also include a comparison or organization module  290  for use by a student or other entity to compare or organize selected institutions  304 , degree programs  306 , courses  308  offered by institutions  60 , or other criteria  310 , as needed. A user interface  292  may function to enable a user to interact with the management system  280 . For example, a user interface  292  may receive data in response to interrogatories presented to a user. Likewise, the user interface  292  may enable a user to select preferences with respect to his or her curriculum. The user interface  292  may also present, organize, and compare data, as needed, for a user. 
         [0109]    Likewise, the management system  280  may include a database  294  including a database engine  312  and records  314 . The database engine  312  may be effective to store, retrieve, modify and search records  314  within the database  294 . Records  314  within the database  294  may include records corresponding to student information  316 , student preferences  318 , degree programs  320 , indexes for searching the web  322 , indexes  324  of information that has been mined over the Internet, equivalency tables  326  containing information with respect to normalizing the equivalency of courses  126  offered by various institutions  60 , as well as other records  328 . 
         [0110]    In selected embodiments, any or all of the data provided over the Internet may be provided to a student or other individual on a self-contained mass storage media, such as a CD-ROM, DVD, or the like. For example, a CD-ROM may be created containing any or all of the structures illustrated in  FIG. 11  in memory, rather than being stored in different physical systems. A CD-ROM containing selected catalogs  66 , information with respect to selected institutions  60 , schedules  136 , and the like, could be provided to a student corresponding to a desired region, such as a city, state, or the like. In other embodiments, a customized CD-ROM could be provided containing only catalogs  66 , institutions  60 , schedules  136 , and the like, that are desired by a particular student or individual. 
         [0111]    Thus, an entire search or comparison may be performed from information entirely contained on a CD-ROM, DVD, or other mass storage medium. In other embodiments, part of a search or comparison may performed from information stored on a CD-ROM, while additional or more specific information may be gathered by logging onto the Internet. For example, selected planning may be performed offline. Once this planning is complete, a student may be connected online to register, download additional information, or the like. 
         [0112]    Referring to  FIG. 12 , an expert system  288  for inclusion in the student-centered, cross-institutional curriculum management system  280  may begin  330  by enabling a student or prospective student to select graduation criteria  332 . Selecting  332  graduation criteria may include selecting  334  an institution  60  from which to graduate, selecting  336  a department  62  or college  62  within the institution  60 , and selecting  338  a degree program  64  within the department  62  or college  62 . Once graduation criteria have been selected  332 , a catalog  66  may be selected  340  but is typically fixed by having offered the degree. Selecting  340  a catalog  66  may simply refer to selecting a year to begin a degree program  64 . Once a catalog  66  is selected  340 , a student may select  342  preferences with respect to a selected degree program  64 . 
         [0113]    For example, a student may have certain preferences  342  with respect to a class schedule  344 , such as preferred times of the day to take courses  126 , preferred days  346  of the week to take courses, preferences with respect to cost  348 , preferences with respect to a credit hour load  350  taken during a semester or other interval, years  352  in which a student desires to attend or graduate, preferred locations  354 , maximum travel time, and the like. By inputting a student&#39;s preferences  342 , the expert system  288  may acquire a set of parameters within which to plan a student&#39;s curriculum. The expert system  288  may then be able to optimize the student&#39;s curriculum more efficiently and rapidly than a student might be able to on his or her own. 
         [0114]    Once preferences  342  are established, the expert system  288  may determine  356  or establish  356  a degree tree structure  180  in accordance with the selected graduation criteria  332 . The degree tree structure  180  may serve as a map or template provided by the expert system  288  to assist a student in completing a degree program  64 . The tree structure  180  embodies courses in sequence to accomplish the designated degree under the constraints of the catalog  66  and preferences  342 . 
         [0115]    Once the degree tree structure  180  is established  356 , existing credits may be imported  358  into the tree structure  180 . These existing credits  358  may be credits earned by a student taking courses  126  at another institution  60 , received in high school, received at the student&#39;s current institution  60 , received from taking exams, and the like. 
         [0116]    Once the expert system  288  has established credits a student has already earned, and how the credits may be applied to a selected degree program  64 , the expert system  288  may determine  360  a next set of courses  126  to be taken by the student. The expert system  288  may then import  362  course schedule  136  information either manually, from a student, from information mined over the Internet  271 , or the like. 
         [0117]    With the course schedule  136 , the expert system  288  may create a class schedule  366  for the student. This class schedule  366  may be optimized  364  to the student&#39;s selected preferences  342 . For example, if a student selects a preference  342  to take courses  126  close to a selected location  354 , the expert system  288  may search for courses  126  that are taught by institutions  60  closest to the selected location  354 . Likewise, the same process may be followed for each of the other preferences  342 . 
         [0118]    Once scheduling information has been imported  362  and the class schedule  366  has been optimized  364  to the student&#39;s preferences, the expert system  288  may proceed to output a class schedule  366  to the student. The class schedule  366  may be for a selected semester, multiple semesters, or the like. Once the class schedule  366  has been output, the expert system  288  may save  368  a student&#39;s profile for future use. 
         [0119]    If the student graduates  370 , upon completing a class schedule  366 , then the process may end  372 . However, if a student does not graduate  370  upon completing the class schedule  366 , a student may be provided the opportunity to modify preferences  374  and other criteria. If a student does not desire to modify his or her preferences  374 , the expert system  288  may proceed to import existing credits  358  earned from completing the class schedule  366  into the degree tree structure  180 . If, however, the student desires to modify preferences  374 , the student may modify criteria such as graduation criteria  332 , or other preferences  342 , with respect to a selected degree program  64 . 
         [0120]    The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from its spirit or essential characteristics. The described embodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative, and not restrictive. The scope of the invention is, therefore, indicated by the appended claims, rather than by the foregoing description. All changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.