Information for Current Vet Tech Students

Important dates
Forms

Graduation Requirements

It is very distressing to think you are in your very last semester to complete the program and then find out that you have overlooked one or more graduation requirements. Please don't let this happen to you!

Admission to the program does not mean that you automatically meet the general education graduation requirements. The graduation requirements include all the general education and support courses in addition to the courses in the major.

General education requirements for AS Degrees

VT Program requirements for graduation

The CATALOG YEAR is another important concept. The catalog year is set automatically as the year when you start taking courses in the VT program. The College guarantees the catalog for 5 years. This means you can use the requirements in place at the time you start the VT program for up to 5 years. You also have the option of picking a more recent catalog year for the graduation requirements if this is favorable to you. You therefore are protected both ways. The requirements won't change on you for up to 5 years, and if the requirements become easier to meet you are allowed to change your year to take advantage of that. If you take more than 5 years to graduate, you will have to meet the graduation requirements of one of the currently available catalogs (the current one and 4 previous years).

A second issue is the catalog year for the general education vs courses in the major. You can use one catalog year for the general education requirements, and a different catalog year for the courses in the major. However, the record system only stores a single catalog year, usually the year you started the courses in the major.

You can use FACTS (Florida Academic Counseling and Tracking for Students) to see if you meet the graduation requirements. From the College home page click on the link for "current students" and FACTS is on a link at the top right under "Need Unofficial Transcripts?" It uses the default catalog year. You can try out a different catalog year to see if that will help you satisfy the requirements.

Grade Requirements

For essentially all courses in the degree you must earn a grade of C or higher in order to meet graduation requirements.

Graduation Applications

You must actually apply for graduation. There is no fee, but there is a deadline very early in the semester to submit your application. You are encouraged and invited to attend the graduation ceremonies, but this are not required. There is a ceremony held at the end of each semester in December, May and July.

How the Transfer of Credits From Other Colleges Is Accomplished

Course credits from other colleges may be transferred to SPC to meet graduation requirements. The following conditions apply:

• If from a US school, the credits must come from a regionally accredited college or university. The regional accrediting bodies are:
• Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (MSA)
• New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC-CIHE)
• North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA-HLC)
• Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU)
• Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS)
• Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC-ACCJC)
Note that there are a few colleges holding AVMA program accreditation that do not have regional accreditation.

• The courses must be equivalant to those required at SPC in order to satisfy graduation requirements.
• Course descriptions are a better guide than course names and numbers in matching courses.
• Only official transcripts will be evaluated. Official transcripts must be ordered by the student and sent directly from the other institution to SPC, or may be hand delivered in unopened sealed envelop from the sending institution.
• Students with an AA or higher degree automatically satisfy the general education requirements and need only meet the support course requirement, a biology course with a lab.
• Courses with grades of less than a "C" are not accepted as transfer credit.
• At least 25% of the course credits required for graduation must be earned at St. Petersburg College in order for a degree to be awarded.

Experiential learning is described on the College web site. It is uncommon for even very experienced veterinary hospital employees to earn more than a few credits by experiential learning.