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The Florida Senate

2016 Florida Statutes

Title XLVIII K-20 EDUCATION CODE
Chapter 1007 ARTICULATION AND ACCESS Entire Chapter
SECTION 25
General education courses; common prerequisites; other degree requirements.
F.S. 1007.25
1007.25 General education courses; common prerequisites; other degree requirements.—
(1) The department shall identify the degree programs offered by public postsecondary educational institutions.
(2) The department shall identify postsecondary career education programs offered by Florida College System institutions and district school boards. The department shall also identify career courses designated as college credit courses applicable toward a career education diploma or degree. Such courses must be identified within the statewide course numbering system.
(3) The chair of the State Board of Education and the chair of the Board of Governors, or their designees, shall jointly appoint faculty committees to identify statewide general education core course options. General education core course options shall consist of a maximum of five courses within each of the subject areas of communication, mathematics, social sciences, humanities, and natural sciences. The core courses may be revised, or the five-course maximum within each subject area may be exceeded, if approved by the State Board of Education and the Board of Governors, as recommended by the subject area faculty committee and approved by the Articulation Coordinating Committee as necessary for a subject area. Each general education core course option must contain high-level academic and critical thinking skills and common competencies that students must demonstrate to successfully complete the course. Beginning with students initially entering a Florida College System institution or state university in 2015-2016 and thereafter, each student must complete at least one identified core course in each subject area as part of the general education course requirements. All public postsecondary educational institutions shall accept these courses as meeting general education core course requirements. The remaining general education course requirements shall be identified by each institution and reported to the department by their statewide course number. The general education core course options shall be adopted in rule by the State Board of Education and in regulation by the Board of Governors.
(4) The department shall identify those courses offered by universities and accepted for credit toward a degree. The department shall identify courses designated as either general education or required as a prerequisite for a degree. The courses shall be identified by their statewide course numbers.
(5) The department shall identify common prerequisite courses and course substitutions for degree programs across all institutions. Common degree program prerequisites shall be offered and accepted by all state universities and Florida College System institutions, except in cases approved by the State Board of Education for Florida College System institutions and the Board of Governors for state universities. The department shall develop a centralized database containing the list of courses and course substitutions that meet the prerequisite requirements for each baccalaureate degree program.
(6) The universities and Florida College System institutions shall work with their school districts to ensure that high school curricula coordinate with the general education curricula and to prepare students for college-level work. General education curricula for associate in arts programs shall be identified by each institution and include 36 semester hours in the subject areas of communication, mathematics, social sciences, humanities, and natural sciences.
(7) An associate in arts degree shall require no more than 60 semester hours of college credit and include 36 semester hours of general education coursework. Beginning with students initially entering a Florida College System institution or state university in 2014-2015 and thereafter, coursework for an associate in arts degree shall include demonstration of competency in a foreign language pursuant to s. 1007.262. Except for developmental education required pursuant to s. 1008.30, all required coursework shall count toward the associate in arts degree or the baccalaureate degree.
(8) A baccalaureate degree program shall require no more than 120 semester hours of college credit and include 36 semester hours of general education coursework, unless prior approval has been granted by the Board of Governors for baccalaureate degree programs offered by state universities and by the State Board of Education for baccalaureate degree programs offered by Florida College System institutions.
(9) A student who received an associate in arts degree for successfully completing 60 semester credit hours may continue to earn additional credits at a Florida College System institution. The university must provide credit toward the student’s baccalaureate degree for an additional Florida College System institution course if, according to the statewide course numbering, the Florida College System institution course is a course listed in the university catalog as required for the degree or as prerequisite to a course required for the degree. Of the courses required for the degree, at least half of the credit hours required for the degree shall be achievable through courses designated as lower division, except in degree programs approved by the State Board of Education for programs offered by Florida College System institutions and by the Board of Governors for programs offered by state universities.
(10) Students at state universities may request associate in arts certificates if they have successfully completed the minimum requirements for the degree of associate in arts (A.A.). The university must grant the student an associate in arts degree if the student has successfully completed minimum requirements for college-level communication and computation skills adopted by the State Board of Education and 60 academic semester hours or the equivalent within a degree program area, including 36 semester hours in general education courses in the subject areas of communication, mathematics, social sciences, humanities, and natural sciences, consistent with the general education requirements specified in the articulation agreement pursuant to s. 1007.23.
(11) The Commissioner of Education shall appoint faculty committees representing both Florida College System institution and public school faculties to recommend to the commissioner for approval by the State Board of Education a standard program length and appropriate occupational completion points for each postsecondary career certificate program, diploma, and degree offered by a school district or a Florida College System institution.
History.—s. 351, ch. 2002-387; s. 107, ch. 2004-357; s. 115, ch. 2007-217; s. 20, ch. 2009-59; s. 93, ch. 2011-5; s. 8, ch. 2011-177; s. 10, ch. 2012-195; s. 15, ch. 2013-51.