Most courses are degree applicable; all degree applicable courses are for credit, but not all credit courses are degree applicable. For example, English 28 is a credit courses that is degree applicable, but English 21 is a credit course that is non-degree applicable -- students pay the same fee for the course, and it appears on their transcripts, but the course's units and grades are not counted toward graduation.
What makes a course degree applicable? Here is an excerpt from the State Academic Senate's Curriculum Standards Handbook:
Courses approved through the local curriculum review process as suitable for the fulfillment of associate degree and general education requirements must reflect an understanding by those reviewing the courses of both the expectations of the Board of Governors and those of 4-year colleges and universities. The standards for the Community College associate degree and general education courses are covered in this section.
The Outlines of Record for courses that are to count towards the associate degree must integrate subject-specific critical thinking and problem solving skills into every component of the course, wherever appropriate.
It is expected that this process will yield a coherent course in which the expectations laid out in the objectives are carried into the content, student assignments, and standards for student evaluations.
Intersegmental standards as these have been formulated by the segments themselves, together with guidance jointly developed by the Academic Senate for the California Community Colleges regarding how best to meet these standards, can be found in the "Curriculum Orientation Package II: Transfer General Education", available through your Academic Senate President. Among other resource materials it contains the standards for the "Intersegmental General Education Transfer Core" (IGETC) and "California State University Executive Order 595".
As in these documents make clear, courses that are to count towards general education and/or for transfer must present the core concepts that define each discipline systematically, not incidentally, and must hold students accountable for mastering these concepts and methods at the level appropriate to the course. This fact does not mean that only theoretical courses can count towards transfer. It is educationally desirable, and often occupationally essential, to use "real world" or "hands-on" applications, and/or studio practice, etc. to focus student interest, illustrate concepts, and to test both theoretical and practical understanding of the core concepts. In order for such courses to count for general education however, the concepts and theories that make up the core of the discipline must still be the main focus of instruction
While these expectations underlie the standards set by the other segments for the acceptability of courses as fulfilling any of their general education requirements in transfer, these same requirements are implicit in the stated expectations of the Board of Governors regarding general education courses and associate degree courses for the California Community Colleges themselves. These requirements are laid out in Title 5 of the California Code of Regulations, as follow:
CCR.T5 §55805. Philosophy and Criteria for Associate Degree and General Education
(a) The governing board of a community college district shall adopt a policy which states its specific philosophy on General Education. In developing this policy governing boards shall consider the following policy of the Board of Governors:
The awarding of an Associate Degree is intended to represent more than an accumulation of units. It is to symbolize a successful attempt on the part of the college to lead students through patterns of learning experiences designed to develop certain capabilities and insights.
Among these are the ability to think and to communicate clearly and effectively both orally and in writing; to use mathematics; to understand the modes of inquiry of the major disciplines; be aware of other cultures and times; to achieve insights gained through experience in thinking about ethical problems; and to develop the capacity for self-understanding. In addition to these accomplishments, the student shall possess sufficient depth in some field of knowledge to contribute to lifetime interest.
Central to an Associate Degree, General Education is designed to introduce students to the variety of means through which people comprehend the modern world. It reflects the conviction of colleges that those who receive their degrees must possess in common certain basic principles, concepts and methodologies both unique to and shared by the various disciplines. College educated persons must be able to use this knowledge when evaluating and appreciating the physical environment, the culture and the society in which they live. Most importantly, General Education should lead to better self-understanding.
In establishing or modifying a general education program, ways shall be sought to create coherence and integration among the separate requirements. It is also desirable that general education programs involve students actively in examining values inherent in proposed solutions to major social problems.
(b) The governing board of a community college district shall also establish criteria to determine which courses may be used in implementing its philosophy on the associate degree and general education.
(c) The governing board of a community college district shall, on a regular basis, review the policy and criteria established pursuant to subsections (a) and (b) of this section.
CCR.T5 §55805.5 Types of Courses Appropriate to the Associate Degree
The criteria established by the governing board of a community college district to implement its philosophy on the associate degree shall permit only courses that conform to the standards specified in Section 55002 (a) and that fall into the following categories to be offered for associate degree credit:
(a) All lower division courses accepted toward the baccalaureate degree by the California State University or University of California or designed to be offered for transfer.
(b) Courses that apply to the major in non-baccalaureate occupational fields.
(c) English courses not more than one level below the first transfer level composition course, typically known as English 1A. Each student may count only one such course as credit toward the associate degree.
(d) All mathematical courses above and including Elementary Algebra.
(e) Credit courses in English and mathematics taught in or on behalf of other departments and which, as determined by the local governing board, require entrance skills at a level equivalent to those necessary for the courses specified in sections (c) and (d) above.
4.2 Credit Courses Applicable to the Associate Degree
CCR T.5 §55002(a) Associate Degree Credit Course
An associate degree credit course is a course which has been designated as appropriate to the associate degree in accordance with the requirements of Section 55805.5 and which has been recommended by the college and/or district curriculum committee and approved by the district governing board as a collegiate course meeting the needs of the students eligible for admission.
CCR T.5 §55002(a)(2) Standards for Approval [of Degree Credit Courses]
The college and/or district curriculum committee shall recommend approval of the course for associate degree credit if it meets the following standards:
(A) Grading Policy. The course provides for measurement of student performance in terms of the stated course objectives and culminates in a formal, permanently recorded grade based upon uniform standards in accordance with section 55758 of this Division. The grade is based on demonstrated proficiency in subject matter and the ability to demonstrate that proficiency, at least in part, by means of essays, or in courses where the curriculum committee deems them to be appropriate, by problem solving exercises or skills demonstrations by students.
(B) Units. The course grants units of credit based upon a relationship specified by the governing board, between the number of units assigned to the course and the number of lecture and/or laboratory hours or performance criteria specified in the course outline. The course also requires a minimum of three hours of work per week, including class time for each unit of credit, prorated for short-term, laboratory and activity courses.
(C) Intensity. The course treats subject matter with a scope and intensity that require students to study independently outside of class time.
(D) Prerequisites and Corequisites. When the college and/or district curriculum committee, determines, based on a review of the course Outline of Record, that a student would be highly unlikely to receive a satisfactory grade unless the student has knowledge or skills not taught in the course, then the course shall require prerequisites or corequisites that are established, reviewed, and applied in accordance with the requirements of Article 2.5 (commencing with section 55200) of this Subchapter.
(E) Basic Skills Requirements. If success in the course is dependent upon communication or computational skills, then the course shall require, consistent with the provisions of Article 2.5 (commencing with section 55200) of this Subchapter, as prerequisites or corequisites eligibility for enrollment in associate degree credit courses in English and/or mathematics, respectively.
(F) Difficulty. The course work calls for critical thinking and the understanding and application of concepts determined by the curriculum committee to be at college level.
(G) Level. The course requires learning skills and a vocabulary that the curriculum committee deems appropriate for a college course.
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