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2019 - 2020 FCC Academic Catalog
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2019 - 2020 FCC Academic Catalog
(a) Based on criteria developed and published
by the receiving public institution; and
(b) Made to provide fair and equal treatment
for native and transfer students.
(3) Courses taken at a public institution as part of a
recommended transfer program leading toward
a baccalaureate degree shall be applicable
to related programs at a receiving public
institution granting the baccalaureate degree.
C. Receiving Institution Program Responsibility.
(1) The faculty of a receiving public institution is
responsible for development and determination
of the program requirements in major fields
of study for a baccalaureate degree, including
courses in the major field of study taken in the
lower division.
(2) A receiving public institution may set program
requirements in major fields of study which
simultaneously fulfill general education
requirements.
(3) A receiving public institution, in developing
lower division course work, shall exchange
information with other public institutions to
facilitate the transfer of credits into its programs.
.03 General Education Requirements
for Public Institutions.
A. While public institutions have the autonomy to
design their general education program to meet
their unique needs and mission, that program shall
conform to the definitions and common standards
in this chapter, and incorporate the general
education knowledge and skills required by the
Middle States Commission on Higher Education
Standards for Accreditation. No later than August
1, 2017, a public institution shall satisfy the general
education requirement by:
(1) Requiring each program leading to the A.A.
or A.S. degree to include not less than 28 and
not more than 36 semester hours, and each
baccalaureate degree program to include not
less than 38 and not more than 46 semester
hours of required core courses, with the core
requiring, at a minimum, course work in each of
the following five areas:
(a) Arts and humanities,
(b) Social and behavioral sciences,
(c) Biological and physical sciences,
(d) Mathematics, and
(e) English composition; or
(2) Conforming with COMAR 13B.02.02.16D(2)
(b)—(c).
B. Each core course used to satisfy the distribution
requirements of §A(1) of this regulation shall carry
at least 3 semester hours.
C. General education programs of public institutions
shall require at least:
(1) Two courses in arts and humanities;
(2) Two courses in social and behavioral sciences;
(3) Two science courses, at least one of which shall
be a laboratory course;
(4) One course in mathematics, having
performance expectations demonstrating a
level of mathematical maturity beyond the
Maryland College and Career Ready Standards
in Mathematics (including problem-solving
skills, and mathematical concepts and
techniques that can be applied in the student’s
program of study); and
(5) One course in English composition, completed
with a grade of C- or better.
D. Institution-Specific Requirements.
(1) In addition to the five required areas in §A of
this regulation, a public institution may include
up to 8 semester hours in course work outside
the five areas. These courses may be integrated
into other general education courses or may
be presented as separate courses. Examples
include, but are not limited to, Health, Diversity,
and Computer Literacy.
(2) Public institutions may not include the courses
in this section in a general education program
unless they provide academic content and
rigor equivalent to the areas in §A(1) of this
regulation.
E. General education programs leading to the A.A.S.
degree shall include at least 18 semester hours
from the same course list designated by the
sending institution for the A.A. and A.S. degrees.
The A.A.S. degree shall include at least one
3-semester-hour course from each of the five areas
listed in §A(1) of this regulation.
F. A course in a discipline listed in more than one of
the areas of general education may be applied only
to one area of general education.
G. A public institution may allow a speech
communication or foreign language course to be
part of the arts and humanities category.
H. Composition and literature courses may be placed
in the arts and humanities area if literature is
included as part of the content of the course.
I. Public institutions may not include physical
education skills courses as part of the general
education requirements.
J. General education courses shall reflect current
scholarship in the discipline and provide reference
to theoretical frameworks and methods of inquiry
appropriate to academic disciplines.
K. Courses that are theoretical may include
applications, but all applications courses shall
include theoretical components if they are to
be included as meeting general education
requirements.
L. Notwithstanding §A(1) of this regulation,
a public 4-year institution may require 48
semester hours of required core courses
if courses upon which the institution’s
curriculum is based carry 4 semester hours.
M. Public institutions shall develop systems to ensure
that courses approved for inclusion on the list
of general education courses are designed and
assessed to comply with the requirements of this
chapter.
.04 Transfer of General Education
Credit.
A. A student transferring to one public institution
from another public institution shall receive
general education credit for work completed at
the student’s sending institution as provided by
this chapter.
B. A completed general education program shall
transfer without further review or approval by the
receiving institution and without the need for a
course-by-course match.
C. Courses that are defined as general education by
one institution shall transfer as general education
even if the receiving institution does not have that
specific course or has not designated that course
as general education.
D. The receiving institution shall give lower-division
general education credits to a transferring student
who has taken any part of the lower-division
general education credits described in Regulation
.03 of this chapter at a public institution for any
general education courses successfully completed
at the sending institution.
E. Except as provided in Regulation .03M of this
chapter, a receiving institution may not require a
transfer student who has completed the requisite
number of general education credits at any
public college or university to take, as a condition
of graduation, more than 10-----16 additional
semester hours of general education and specific
courses required of all students at the receiving
institution, with the total number not to exceed
46 semester hours. This provision does not relieve
students of the obligation to complete specific
academic program requirements or course
prerequisites required by a receiving institution.
F. A sending institution shall designate on or with the
student transcript those courses that have met its
general education requirements, as well as indicate
whether the student has completed the general
education program.
G. A.A.S. Degrees.
(1) While there may be variance in the numbers
of hours of general education required for A.A.,
A.S., and A.A.S. degrees at a given institution,
the courses identified as meeting general
education requirements for all degrees shall
come from the same general education course
list and exclude technical or career courses.
(2) An A.A.S. student who transfers into a receiving
institution with fewer than the total number
of general education credits designated
by the receiving institution shall complete
the difference in credits according to the
distribution as designated by the receiving
institution. Except as provided in Regulation
.03M of this chapter, the total general
education credits for baccalaureate degree-
granting public receiving institutions may not
exceed 46 semester hours.
H. Student Responsibilities. A student is held:
(1) Accountable for the loss of credits that:
(a) Result from changes in the student’s
selection of the major program of study,
(b) Were earned for remedial course work, or
(c) Exceed the total course credits accepted in
transfer as allowed by this chapter; and
(2) Responsible for meeting all requirements
of the academic program of the receiving
institution.
.05 Transfer of Nongeneral Education
Program Credit.
A. Transfer to Another Public Institution.
(1) Credit earned at any public institution in
the State is transferable to any other public
institution if the:
(a) Credit is from a college or university
parallel course or program;
(b) Grades in the block of courses transferred
average 2.0 or higher; and
(c) Acceptance of the credit is consistent with
the policies of the receiving institution
governing native students following the
same program.
(2) If a native student’s “D” grade in a specific
course is acceptable in a program, then a “D”
earned by a transfer student in the same course
at a sending institution is also acceptable in
the program. Conversely, if a native student is
required to earn a grade of “C” or better in a
required course, the transfer student shall also
be required to earn a grade of “C” or better to
meet the same requirement.
B. Credit earned in or transferred from a community
college is limited to:
(1) 1/2 the baccalaureate degree program
requirement, but may not be more than 70
semester hours; and
(2) The first 2 years of the undergraduate education
experience.
C. Nontraditional Credit.
(1) The assignment of credit for AP, CLEP, or
other nationally recognized standardized
examination scores presented by transfer
students is determined according to the same
standards that apply to native students in
the receiving institution, and the assignment
shall be consistent with the State minimum
requirements.
(2) Transfer of credit from the following areas shall
be consistent with COMAR 13B.02.02. and shall
be evaluated by the receiving institution on a
course-by-course basis:
(a) Technical courses from career programs;
(b) Course credit awarded through
articulation agreements with other
segments or agencies;
(c) Credit awarded for clinical practice or
cooperative education experiences; and
(d) Credit awarded for life and work
experiences.
(3) The basis for the awarding of the credit shall
be indicated on the student’s transcript by the
receiving institution.
(4) The receiving institution shall inform
a transfer student of the procedures
for validation of course work for which
there is no clear equivalency. Examples
of validation procedures include ACE
recommendations, portfolio assessment,
credit through challenge, examinations,
and satisfactory completion of the next
course in sequence in the academic area.
(5) The receiving baccalaureate degree-granting
institution shall use validation procedures
when a transferring student successfully
completes a course at the lower-division
level that the receiving institution offers
at the upper-division level. The validated
credits earned for the course shall be
substituted for the upper-division course.
D. Program Articulation.
(1) Recommended transfer programs shall be
developed through consultation between
the sending and receiving institutions. A
recommended transfer program represents an
agreement between the two institutions that
allows students aspiring to the baccalaureate
degree to plan their programs. These programs
constitute freshman/sophomore level course
work to be taken at the community college in
fulfillment of the receiving institution’s lower
division course work requirement.
(2) Recommended transfer programs in effect at
the time that this regulation takes effect, which
conform to this chapter, may be retained.
.06 Academic Success and General
Well-Being of Transfer Students.
A. Sending Institutions.
(1) Community colleges shall encourage their
students to complete the associate degree
or to complete 56 hours in a recommended
transfer program which includes both general
education courses and courses applicable
toward the program at the receiving institution.
(2) Community college students are encouraged to
choose as early as possible the institution and
program into which they expect to transfer.
(3) The sending institution shall:
(a) Provide to community college
students information about the specific
transferability of courses at 4-year colleges;
(b) Transmit information about transfer
students who are capable of honors work
or independent study to the receiving
institution; and
(c) Promptly supply the receiving
institution with all the required
documents if the student has met
all financial and other obligations of
the sending institution for transfer.
B. Receiving Institutions.
(1) Admission requirements and curriculum
prerequisites shall be stated explicitly in
institutional publications.
(2) A receiving institution shall admit transfer
students from newly established public
colleges that are functioning with the approval
of the Maryland Higher Education Commission
on the same basis as applicants from regionally
accredited colleges.
(3) A receiving institution shall evaluate the
transcript of a degree-seeking transfer student
as expeditiously as possible, and notify the
student of the results not later than mid-
semester of the student’s first semester of
enrollment at the receiving institution, if all
official transcripts have been received at least
15 working days before mid-semester. The
receiving institution shall inform a student of
the courses which are acceptable for transfer
credit and the courses which are applicable to
the student’s intended program of study.
(4) A receiving institution shall give a transfer
student the option of satisfying institutional
graduation requirements that were in effect
at the receiving institution at the time the
student enrolled as a freshman at the sending
institution. In the case of major requirements,
a transfer student may satisfy the major
requirements in effect at the time when the
student was identifiable as pursuing the
recommended transfer program at the sending
institution. These conditions are applicable to a
student who has been continuously enrolled at
the sending institution.