COMMON PREREQUISITES MANUAL

In 1996, institutions of higher education in the state of Florida, under legislative mandate and through the direction of the Articulation Coordinating Committee, established a list of common prerequisite courses for every degree program. The purpose of such a list is to provide students, especially those who plan to transfer between institutions, with information regarding the courses that they will need to take to be admitted into upper division programs. The Common Prerequisites Counseling Manual is a centralized compilation of program prerequisites that can be referenced by counselors and students in their academic planning. The Common Prerequisites Counseling Manual is compiled in a format as established by the Oversight Subcommittee of the Articulation Coordinating Committee and is considered to be the "official" publication of the program prerequisites. It is compiled annually and placed in a format that is accessible by all institutions. The Common Prerequisites Manual is not intended as a comprehensive advising manual. For effective academic planning, students should be referred to university catalogs and counseling manuals.

Common Prerequisites and substitutions are for all public Florida institutions and apply to all students (native and transfer). Common Prerequisites are required components of the degree programs within the State University System. Common Prerequisites must be the same at all institutions in order to facilitate efficient transfer among all 38 public Florida postsecondary institutions, except for specific program tracks and program exceptions approved by the Oversight Committee (OSC) and the Articulation Coordinating Committee. The Division of Colleges and Universities has approved exceptions to the standardized prerequisites for programs with different focuses or different structures of a similar major. For example, the Environmental Studies concentration within Liberal Studies at Florida Gulf Coast University requires different prerequisite courses than the Environmental Science program at Florida International University. The various programs, concentrations, and tracks with corresponding prerequisites are noted in the Common Prerequisites Manual.

Each program of study listed in the Common Prerequisite Manual provides information regarding the required and/or suggested common prerequisites for that program. Some programs do not require common prerequisite courses. Others may have additional requirements for acceptance into that program such as Grade Point Average or grades on specified courses. Students are advised to consult university catalogs, counseling manuals, and advisors at the receiving institution to ensure accurate academic planning.

Students should know that occasionally a common prerequisite requirement has course prerequisites. With qualifying placement test scores, a student may be able to move directly into that common prerequisite without having to take the course prerequisite. It should be noted that some students may need to take one or all of the course prerequisites before moving into the common prerequisite listed. In this instance, credit hours will be added to the total A.A. Degree program.

Only course substitutions approved by the OSC can be utilized. Universities and community colleges cannot grant unapproved course substitutions for either native students or transfers from Florida public institutions. Further, all institutions must accept the common prerequisites and/or substitutions in transfer. All recommendations for the addition or deletion of a course designated as a common prerequisite and the addition or deletion of course substitutions must come through the Oversight Committee with the Articulation Coordinating Committee giving final approval.

Discipline committees made up of faculty from a variety of public institutions across the state meet annually to develop and review the common prerequisites for their academic programs. Academic departments in all Florida public higher education institutions are expected to abide by the program prerequisites as determined by those discipline committees and approved by the Articulation Coordinating Committee for placement into the Common Prerequisites Counseling Manual.