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States that have adopted common general education cores or significant transfer blocks to support student transitions from one college to another tend to be those that have significant postsecondary coordination or governance authority over higher education at the state level. States with a strong tradition of local control and decentralized governance are far less likely to adopt such policies.

To measure the effectiveness of a state’s articulation practices, including the impact of a core general education curriculum, student unit record data systems are needed to track student movement between sectors (see No Child Left Behind: State Information Systems). Federal and state student privacy rules complicate such efforts, but many states have built data systems that fully comply with stricter privacy guidelines. With the establishment of such information systems, states can monitor institutional and student performance, including the acceptance of credits, student retention and degree attainment.

When developing a new policy initiative in this area, state policymakers may want to consider the following questions:

• Is there a statewide (or regional) agreement in place to identify which blocks of credit constitute a general education curriculum?
• If a student completes an associate of arts or associate of science degree at an accredited two-year institution prior to transferring to a four-year college or university, will that student’s general education credits be accepted in fulfillment of the four-year college’s lower-division general education requirements? Will the student be awarded junior status?
• Is there a mechanism that allows for the transfer of blocks of credit in fulfillment of general education curriculum requirements prior to completion of an associate’s degree?
• Is there a statewide transfer guide in place that clearly identifies which credits will transfer between different institutions?