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Interesting Facts: Typically, common general education core agreements identify a set of courses that will fulfill lower-division general education requirements at any participating college or university in the state.

Policymakers are placing increasing importance on dismantling barriers that inhibit students from moving easily through postsecondary education. States are encouraging the development of general education curriculums that are transferable upon completion from one institution to another. Some states, in fact, are requiring that every public institution of higher education adopt a core curriculum that is fully transferable and will substitute for a receiving institution’s core curriculum.

Typically, common general education core agreements identify a set of courses that will fulfill lower-division general education requirements at any participating college or university in the state. Such agreements streamline the articulation process by eliminating the necessity for transfer students to repeat general education courses or the confusion that can arise when individual colleges and universities require different core courses to fulfill graduation requirements. A 2001 ECS survey of state articulation policies identified 23 states that have negotiated common general education core courses to facilitate student transfer between public postsecondary institutions.

Agreement on a common general education core is particularly important in easing the transition of those education majors who start their undergraduate experience at a community college. Such agreements, however, typically do not eliminate additional prerequisite requirements that individual departments may require prior to admission to the upper-division major.

The typical course review procedure involves academic discipline-based committees made up of faculty representatives from both two- and four-year colleges and universities from across the state. These committees review course syllabi for courses being considered for the core curriculum. The syllabus indicates the course title, number and titles of textbooks to be used, the credit hours, and a daily or weekly schedule of material to be covered. It also identifies prerequisites, if any, and outlines how student learning will be evaluated. Course objectives and writing assignments also are usually identified. Students at schools on a quarter academic calendar may need to complete additional courses to earn credits equivalent to similar courses taken on a semester basis (a common equivalency is three quarter-credit courses for two semester-credit courses).

Sources and Links

• This is a link to the New Mexico common core, including a good example of a common core for teaching that can be transferred from 2-year to 4-year institutions.
  http://www.nmche.org/colleges/transfercredits.asp