If a student does not complete the systemwide general education before transferring but does complete some general education courses, the institution to which the student is transferring will conduct an official transcript evaluation of the credit earned at the first institution. For each course, the evaluation will assess if the course is a Systemwide Transfer Course that falls under one of the Systemwide General Education buckets. If it is, the Systemwide Transfer Course is applied towards satisfying General Education requirements at the receiving institution in the applicable bucket, unless one of the exceptions below applies. If the course is not a systemwide transfer course, the application towards satisfying general education requirements is at the discretion of the receiving institution.
1. When would the receiving institution be permitted to exclude a systemwide transfer course from satisfying a credit-hour requirement in an applicable discipline bucket area?
A systemwide transfer course may be excluded from satisfying a GE requirement in an applicable discipline bucket when the student:
- pursues a major for which the Board President and CEO has granted permission to continue requiring – and not waive – a specific course requirement that is classified in the discipline bucket area; or
- pursues a major at the receiving Kansas public institution for which the Board President and Chief Executive Officer has granted permission to deviate from the systemwide GE requirements;
2. If a student did not complete the systemwide GE and transfers, can the receiving institution go through and check the transcript and apply the GE grading and performance course standards that all its native students are required to meet?
Yes. When an incoming transfer student did not complete the systemwide GE, the receiving institution can apply the GE grading and performance course standards that apply to its native students. Here are more specifics.
Grading
- If a receiving institution requires all its native students to earn a “C” or higher in a specific GE course, it can require a transfer student who did not complete the systemwide GE to retake and ultimately earn a higher grade in such a course when he/she earned a “D” grade.
Performance Courses (see the Arts and Humanities Bucket)
- If a receiving institution prohibits its native student from applying a performance course (e.g., piano I) toward the six-credit-hour arts and humanities bucket, it can enforce the same standard when a transfer student did not complete the systemwide GE.
Additionally, it should be noted that if the student is pursuing a program with a grade standard that is required to meet selective admission criteria or is necessary to meet programmatic accreditation or licensure standards, the student may be required to retake such a course and ultimately earn a higher grade.
3. When a transfer student has not completed the Systemwide GE but has completed systemwide GE transfer courses, how will the receiving institution apply the systemwide transfer courses toward completing the GE buckets?
The Systemwide Transfer Courses by GE Bucket Resource identifies the systemwide transfer courses that apply in each discipline bucket.