The institution awards degrees only to those students who have earned at least 25 percent of the credit hours required for the degree through instruction offered by that institution.

   X   Compliance                    ___Partial Compliance                       ___Non-Compliance

Narrative

St. Petersburg College is in compliance with this comprehensive standard because it confirms through a graduation audit that students have earned at least 25 percent of their credit hours at SPC when they apply for graduation.

Policy on the amount of credit required by the institution

Chapter 1007 of the State Statutes, Articulation and Access, outlines the approach to be used by Florida post-secondary institutions in facilitating the attainment of a post secondary degree.

Excerpt from 1007.24  Statewide course numbering system

To facilitate students completing their programs quickly, the Florida State Board of Education has stipulated that community colleges provide acceleration mechanisms such as Advance Placement and Experiential Learning Programs “to complete at least twenty-five percent (25%) of the program requirements, exclusive of transfer credit”

State Board of Education Regulation 6A-10.024 further stipulates that after any public university or community college in Florida has published its general education core curriculum, the integrity of that curriculum is recognized by the other public universities and community colleges in the state.  Once a student has been certified by another public university or community college on an official transcript as having completed their general education core curriculum satisfactorily, regardless of whether the associate degree is conferred, St. Petersburg College will not require any further general education courses.

Given the State emphasis on accepting credit from other sources, St. Petersburg College has set 25% as the minimum amount of credit required to be earned at the College.  Board of Trustees (BOT) Rule 6Hx23-4.24, Graduation Requirements for all Degrees, Certificates, and Diplomas, specifies these requirements for graduation for all College programs.

·         Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Applied Science degree seeking students must complete at least 120 semester hours of college-level credit in order to graduate.  A minimum of 30 of the hours required for graduation must be earned at St. Petersburg College.

·         Associate in Arts degree seeking students must satisfactorily complete at least 60 semester hours of college-level credit in order to graduate.  A minimum of 15 of the hours required for graduation must be earned at St. Petersburg College.

·         Associate in Science and Associate in Applied Science degree seeking students must satisfactorily complete a minimum of 25 percent of the hours required for graduation at St. Petersburg College, including at least 12 hours within the major program.

Board of Trustees Rules 6Hx23-4.17 and 6Hx23-4.28 define the limits on the amount of credit that may be granted through acceleration mechanisms or non-traditional sources that may be applied to meet graduation requirements.  The maximum amount of credit which may be accepted from all sources in combination is 45 semester hours.  A maximum of 15 semester hours of correspondence and extension credit may be accepted.

Monitoring the amount of credit earned at SPC

One of the checks the degree audit process performs is a check to make sure students have completed at least 25 percent of credits in residence.  A computer query of their academic records is used to confirm they have earned the requisite percent of credit hours at St. Petersburg College.  The query is built to accommodate the different number of credits required for each degree, i.e., the query checks for 15 credits for an Associate of Arts degree, which requires 60 credits, but 20 credits for an A.S. degree in Medical Lab Technician, which requires 78 credits. 

               Sample Degree Audit Query

Registrar personnel complete a Graduation Checklist verifying they have run the degree audit query prior to approving a student for graduation.

                     Graduation Checklist

Identifying transfer institutions on transcripts

SPC’s transcript is very explicit, providing the complete name of each transfer institution and link it directly to the individual courses.  Acceleration mechanisms such as College Level Examination Program, Advanced Placement, and International Baccalaureate, are all identified as well.

Disseminating information on credit requirements

Information on the amount of credit that must be earned at SPC is communicated to students through the College Catalog, also available online, as well as in the Board of Trustees Rules available on the Prospective Student, Current Student, the Interested Visitor, Potential Employee, Alumnus, and employee Staff Central pages.

              Excerpt from College Catalog on graduation requirements

References