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III. Transfer Policy

D. Acceptance of Transfer Credit and Application of Transfer Credit

2. APPLICATION OF TRANSFER CREDIT

a. TRANSFER MODULE REQUIREMENTS

Most universities and community colleges offering A.A, A.S. and baccalaureate degrees have a set of liberal education courses which make up a general education requirement that all students must complete. This general education requirement may be called "General Requirements," "University Requirements," "Core Requirements," or even "Liberal Education Requirements," etc. However, applied degree programs offered at technical colleges and comprehensive community colleges have a smaller set of general education requirements because of the higher volume of technical courses required in applied degree programs.

Individual A.A., A.S. and Baccalaureate degree programs within institutions often have liberal education course requirements which go beyond those required for the institution's general education requirement and which are appropriate to the particular field of endeavor (e.g., a foreign language requirement in Colleges of Arts and Sciences). All such requirements, which are determined by the institution, serve, in part, to give each institution and program its distinctive character.

Although the philosophical basis for the general education requirements of the various programs, the structuring of these requirements, the total hours required, and the method of delivery vary among institutions and even among programs within institutions, there is, within this general education requirement of A.A., A.S. and baccalaureate degree programs a common body of knowledge and academic skills which is required at most institutions which make up this appropriately diverse academy. For this reason, the receiving institutions have been able to apply transfer credit to some of the general education requirements for equivalent or similar courses.
The Transfer Module represents a subset of courses from among the general education requirements of A.A., A.S. and baccalaureate degrees at many institutions. Applied degree students may choose to go beyond the general education requirements of their program and complete additional courses for the transfer module.

Institutions were required to define a Transfer Module within one-year of adoption of the original policy by the Ohio Board of Regents [November 1990]. The Transfer Module must be defined explicitly in the electronic and print catalog for the benefit of the students and the receiving institutions.

Guidelines for establishing a Transfer Module were taken from an examination of the general education requirements of A.A., A.S. and baccalaureate degree offering institutions of higher education in the State of Ohio and from the legal definitions of general education requirements which have been established for two-year institutions in the State of Ohio (Appendix B, Transfer Module Guidelines).

The Transfer Module may be a subset or the complete set of a college’s or university’s general education requirementsin A.A., A.S. and baccalaureate degrees. Applied Associate Degrees have a smaller general education component, due to the more extensive technical course requirements.1

The Ohio Transfer Module contains 54-60 quarter hours or 36-40 semester hours of course credit in English composition (minimum 5-6 quarter hours or 3 semester hours); mathematics, statistics and formal/symbolic logic (minimum of 3 quarter hours or 3 semester hours); arts/humanities (minimum 9 quarter hours or 6 semester hours); social and behavioral sciences (minimum of 9 quarter hours or 6 semester hours); and natural sciences (minimum 9 quarter hours or 6 semester hours).

1Students completing a technical associate degree may complete the transfer module, but will likely have to take additional general education courses beyond those required for the applied associate degree. Alternatively students may transfer individual transfer module courses without completing the entire module.

Oral communication and interdisciplinary areas may be included as additional options. Additional elective hours from among these areas make up the total hours for a completed Transfer Module. Courses for the Transfer Module should be 100- and 200-level general education courses commonlycompleted in the first twoyears of a student’s residency. (Transfer Module Guidelines, Appendix B)

  1. Transfer students with an earned A.A. or A.S. degree which contains an identifiable Transfer Module will have met the Transfer Module requirements of the receiving institution. The application of transfer work to general education requirements which go beyond those contained in the Transfer Module will be done on a course-by-course basis.
  2. Other transfer students who have completed the Transfer Module as certified by the sending institution will be considered to have met the Transfer Module requirement of the receiving institution. The application of transfer work to general education requirements which go beyond those contained in the Transfer Module will be done on a course-by-course basis.
  3. Students transferring without an earned A.A., A.S., applied associate or baccalaureate degree and who have not completed the Transfer Module will have the application of transfer work to the general education requirements done on a course-by-course basis.
  4. Individual courses that are part of an approved Transfer Module are guaranteed to transfer among public institutions of higher education on a course-by-course basis. Students will receive credit for successfully completed courses from the Transfer Module without completing the entire module.

Courses found to be equivalent to general education courses at the receiving institution will be applicable to the General Education requirements of the receiving institution. Non-equivalent courses which were used to satisfy general education requirements at the sending institution and which are in the general area of the courses used to satisfy the general education requirements in the receiving institution may be counted toward the general education requirements, but these applications will be determined by the receiving institution.

Many institutions have general education requirements which go beyond the Transfer Module. Many degree programs have specific requirements in the liberal education area which go beyond those required to meet the institution's general education requirements. Often additional requirements are prerequisites for more advanced courses in the program; sometimes they are external professional accrediting agency requirements; and sometimes they are part of the pedagogy of the field or the philosophical intent of the degree. For example, foreign languages are generally required by Colleges of Arts and Sciences as part of the philosophical basis of the degree. Likewise, foreign languages are required in chemistry because they are needed in the field and for graduate study. Such requirements must consistently apply to both native and transfer students alike.

Completion of the Transfer Module or the entire set of general education requirements does not constitute completion of the above specific requirements unless the specified requirements have been successfully completed as part of the Transfer Module or the broader institutional general education requirements. With the exception of Transfer Assurance Guides noted below the application of transfer credit for these specific requirements will be made on a course-by-course basis.