Quick Links
- General Laws Conversion Table (2023) [PDF]
- Florida Statutes Definitions Index (2023) [PDF]
- Table of Section Changes (2023) [PDF]
- Preface to the Florida Statutes (2023) [PDF]
- Table Tracing Session Laws to Florida Statutes (2023) [PDF]
- Index to Special and Local Laws (1971-2023) [PDF]
- Index to Special and Local Laws (1845-1970) [PDF]
- Statute Search Tips
2010 Florida Statutes
General education courses; common prerequisites; and other degree requirements.
General education courses; common prerequisites; and other degree requirements.
—The department shall identify the degree programs offered by public postsecondary educational institutions.
The department shall identify postsecondary career education programs offered by 1community colleges and district school boards. The department shall also identify career courses designated as college credit courses applicable toward a career education diploma or degree. Such courses must be identified within the statewide course numbering system.
The department shall identify those courses that meet general education requirements within the subject areas of communication, mathematics, social sciences, humanities, and natural sciences. The courses shall be identified by their statewide course code number. All public postsecondary educational institutions shall accept these general education courses.
The department shall identify those courses offered by universities and accepted for credit toward a degree. The department shall identify courses designated as either general education or required as a prerequisite for a degree. The courses shall be identified by their statewide course number.
The department shall identify common prerequisite courses and course substitutions for degree programs across all institutions. Common degree program prerequisites shall be offered and accepted by all state universities and 1community colleges, except in cases approved by the State Board of Education for 1community colleges and the Board of Governors for state universities. The department shall develop a centralized database containing the list of courses and course substitutions that meet the prerequisite requirements for each baccalaureate degree program.
The boards of trustees of the 1community colleges shall identify their core curricula, which shall include courses required by the State Board of Education. The boards of trustees of the state universities shall identify their core curricula, which shall include courses required by the Board of Governors. The universities and 1community colleges shall work with their school districts to assure that high school curricula coordinate with the core curricula and to prepare students for college-level work. Core curricula for associate in arts programs shall be adopted in rule by the State Board of Education and shall include 36 semester hours of general education courses in the subject areas of communication, mathematics, social sciences, humanities, and natural sciences.
An associate in arts degree shall require no more than 60 semester hours of college credit, including 36 semester hours of general education coursework. Except for college-preparatory coursework required pursuant to s. 1008.30, all required coursework shall count toward the associate in arts degree or the baccalaureate degree.
A baccalaureate degree program shall require no more than 120 semester hours of college credit, including 36 semester hours of general education coursework, unless prior approval has been granted by the Board of Governors for baccalaureate degree programs offered by state universities and by the State Board of Education for baccalaureate degree programs offered by 1community colleges.
A student who received an associate in arts degree for successfully completing 60 semester credit hours may continue to earn additional credits at a 1community college. The university must provide credit toward the student’s baccalaureate degree for an additional 1community college course if, according to the statewide course numbering, the 1community college course is a course listed in the university catalog as required for the degree or as prerequisite to a course required for the degree. Of the courses required for the degree, at least half of the credit hours required for the degree shall be achievable through courses designated as lower division, except in degree programs approved by the State Board of Education for programs offered by 1community colleges and by the Board of Governors for programs offered by state universities.
Students at state universities may request associate in arts certificates if they have successfully completed the minimum requirements for the degree of associate in arts (A.A.). The university must grant the student an associate in arts degree if the student has successfully completed minimum requirements for college-level communication and computation skills adopted by the State Board of Education and 60 academic semester hours or the equivalent within a degree program area, with 36 semester hours in general education courses in the subject areas of communication, mathematics, social sciences, humanities, and natural sciences, consistent with the general education requirements specified in the articulation agreement pursuant to s. 1007.23.
The Commissioner of Education shall appoint faculty committees representing both 1community college and public school faculties to recommend to the commissioner for approval by the State Board of Education a standard program length and appropriate occupational completion points for each postsecondary career certificate program, diploma, and degree offered by a school district or a 1community college.
A public postsecondary educational institution may not confer an associate in arts or baccalaureate degree upon any student who fails to successfully complete one of the following requirements:
Achieve a score that meets or exceeds a minimum score on a nationally standardized examination, as established by the State Board of Education in conjunction with the Board of Governors; or
Demonstrate successful remediation of any academic deficiencies and achieve a cumulative grade point average of 2.5 or above, on a 4.0 scale, in postsecondary-level coursework identified by the State Board of Education in conjunction with the Board of Governors. The Department of Education shall specify the means by which a student may demonstrate successful remediation.
Any student who, in the best professional opinion of the postsecondary educational institution, has a specific learning disability such that the student cannot demonstrate successful mastery of one or more of the authorized examinations but is achieving at the college level in every area despite his or her disability, and whose diagnosis indicates that further remediation will not succeed in overcoming the disability, may appeal through the appropriate dean to a committee appointed by the president or the chief academic officer for special consideration. The committee shall examine the evidence of the student’s academic and medical records and may hear testimony relevant to the case. The committee may grant a waiver for one or more of the authorized examinations based on the results of its review.
Each public postsecondary educational institution president shall establish a committee to consider requests for waivers from the requirements in paragraph (a). The committee shall be chaired by the chief academic officer of the institution and shall have four additional members appointed by the president as follows:
One faculty member from the mathematics department;
One faculty member from the English department;
The institutional test administrator; and
One faculty member from a department other than English or mathematics.
Any student who has taken the authorized examinations and has not achieved a passing score, but has otherwise demonstrated proficiency in coursework in the same subject area, may request a waiver from the examination requirement. Waivers shall be considered only after students have been provided test accommodations or other administrative adjustments to permit the accurate measurement of the student’s proficiency in the subject areas measured by the authorized examinations. The committee shall consider the student’s educational records and other evidence as to whether the student should be able to pass the authorized examinations. A waiver may be recommended to the president upon a majority vote of the committee. The president may approve or disapprove the recommendation. The president may not approve a request that the committee has disapproved. If a waiver is approved, the student’s transcript shall include a statement that the student did not meet the requirements of this subsection and that a waiver was granted.
s. 351, ch. 2002-387; s. 107, ch. 2004-357; s. 115, ch. 2007-217; s. 20, ch. 2009-59.
Section 21, ch. 2010-70, directs the Division of Statutory Revision to prepare a reviser’s bill to substitute the term “Florida College System institution” for the terms “Florida college,” “community college,” and “junior college” where those terms appear in the Florida K-20 Education Code.