Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability
Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability

Students Encounter Barriers When Transferring Credit from Non-Public Institutions to Community Colleges

Report 07-49, December 2007




Report Summary

Non-public colleges and universities may participate in the Statewide Course Numbering System to facilitate articulation for students transferring to a public community college or university. However, the system has only a limited effect in meeting this goal. Specifically,

  • transcripts of a sample of students who transferred from non-public institutions to the state's community colleges during the 2004-05 and 2005‑06 school years showed that only 16% of the 3,630 courses these students completed at non-public institutions were eligible for transfer to a community college; the remaining courses were not eligible to transfer primarily because they were not included in the Statewide Course Numbering System; and
  • community colleges did not award credit compliant with the Statewide Course Numbering System for nearly one-third (29%) of the 573 courses we examined that were eligible to transfer.

As a result of these problems, students may be required to take additional courses or retake eligible courses they have already completed, thereby delaying and potentially deterring their educational progress.


Related Reports
  1. DOE Improved the Statewide Course Numbering System; Oversight and Accuracy Issues Remain
    Report 10-52 September 2010
  2. State Universities Are Generally Following the Statewide Course Numbering System in Awarding Appropriate Transfer Credit
    Report 09-20 March 2009
  3. Institutions Do Not Have to Accept Transfer Credit for Many of the Courses in the Statewide Course Numbering System
    Report 07-22 March 2007
Copies of this report in print or alternate accessible format may be obtained by email OPPAGA@oppaga.fl.gov, telephone (850) 488-0021, or mail 111 W. Madison St., Room 312 Tallahassee, FL 32399-1475.
Copies of this report in print or alternate accessible format may be obtained by email OPPAGA@oppaga.fl.gov, telephone (850) 488-0021, or mail 111 W. Madison St., Room 312 Tallahassee, FL 32399-1475.
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