10.03 STATE MINIMUM CORE CURRICULUM

Agenda Item No. 9 April 20, 1990

State Minimum Core Required for Baccalaureate Degree General Provisions

1. Within the framework of the State Minimum Core specified on the previous page, each state institution shall propose 35 semester-credit hours from its institutional general education core to be recognized for purposes of this legislation. The total general education degree requirements at each institution may exceed the State Minimum Core requirements.

2. Each state institution shall present its proposed State Minimum Core for consideration by the State Board of Higher Education for recognition under this legislation. Institutions may present proposed changes in their State Minimum Cores to the State Board as necessary.

3. Each state institution shall accept for transfer and apply toward requirements for any baccalaureate degree such parts of any other state institution's State Minimum Core as shall be presented by transfer students. If a student transfers to an institution which has total general education degree requirements that exceed the State Minimum Core, after recognizing all courses presented from the sending institution’s State Minimum Core, the receiving institution may determine which additional general education courses are required to make up the difference between the State Minimum Core courses presented and the institution's total general education degree requirements.

4. Students should be aware that score requirements for credit by examination on such tests as CLEP or Advanced Placement vary among institutions and that institutions to which they transfer may have different requirements than the requirements of the institution previously attended. Institutions are requested to show on their transcripts the test scores utilized for awarding credit by examination.

5. Frequently, courses with a grade of D do not transfer, and students should be aware that institutional policies regarding the transfer of courses with D grades may vary.

6. In math and science, higher courses than those required will be accepted for purposes of the State Minimum Core.

7. A receiving institution may be more lenient in accepting credit at its own election; however, the policies regarding the State Minimum Core do not obligate the receiving institution beyond the stated courses and provisions.

8. A student who has enrolled under more than one State Minimum Core may select that core which is to be transferred to the receiving institution.

Other Transfer Agreements

Students should be aware that there are other transfer agreements which involve specific institutions and groups of institutions and which provide for transfer of greater numbers of semester credit hours than are included in the State Minimum Core. There are voluntary core curriculum transfer agreements which include several institutions of higher education in instances such as baccalaureate liberal arts and elementary education degrees. There are also a number of transfer agreements between two institutions in specific fields such as engineering or agriculture.

State Minimum Core Required for Baccalaureate Degree

Act 98 of 1989 (Arkansas Code 6-61-218) provides that the State Board of Higher Education "shall establish in consultation with the colleges and universities a minimum core of courses which shall apply toward the general education core curriculum requirements for baccalaureate degrees at state supported institutions of higher education and which shall be fully transferable between state institutions." The term "State Minimum Core" will be used to describe the core identified for purposes of this legislation.

The following list of courses, with accompanying specifications, are proposed to implement this legislation:

State Minimum Core