State of Ohio's transfer and articulation policy
Stark state college abides by the Ohio department of higher
education Ohio articulation and transfer policy
[The Ohio articulation and transfer
policy: the policy | Ohio higher ed:
https://www.ohiohighered.org/transfer/policy]
Institutional transfer
The Ohio department of higher education in 1990, following a
directive of the 118th Ohio General Assembly, developed the Ohio articulation
and transfer policy to facilitate students' ability to transfer credits from
one Ohio public college or university to another in order to avoid duplication
of course requirements. A subsequent policy review and recommendations produced
by the articulation and transfer advisory council in 2004, together with
mandates from the 125th Ohio General Assembly in the form of Amended Substitute
House Bill 95, have prompted improvements of the original policy. Additional
legislation from the 125th Ohio General Assembly also initiated the development
of a statewide system for articulation agreements among state institutions of
higher education for transfer students pursuing teacher education
programs.
Action by the 126th Ohio General Assembly led to the
establishment of criteria, policies, and procedures for the transfer of
technical courses completed through a career-technical education institution
and standards for the awarding of college credit based on advanced placement
(AP) test scores.
Legislation from the 130th Ohio General Assembly required
public institutions of higher education to: use baseline standards and
procedures in the granting of college credit for military training, experience,
and coursework; establish an appeals process for resolving disputes over the
awarding of credit for military experience; provide specific assistance and
support to veterans and service members; adopt a common definition of a service
member and veteran; and establish a credit articulation system in which adult
graduates of public career-technical institutions who complete a nine hundred
clock-hour program of study and obtain an industry-recognized credential
approved by the chancellor shall receive thirty college technical credit hours
toward a technical degree upon enrollment.
While all public colleges and universities are required to
follow the Ohio articulation and transfer policy, independent colleges and
universities in Ohio may or may not participate in the transfer policy.
Therefore, students interested in transferring to independent institutions are
encouraged to check with the college or university of their choice regarding
transfer agreements. In support of improved articulation and transfer
processes, the Ohio department of higher education has established an
articulation and transfer clearinghouse to receive, annotate, and convey
transcripts among public colleges and universities. This system is designed to
provide standardized information and help colleges and universities reduce
undesirable variability in the transfer credit evaluation process.
Please see the Ohio articulation and transfer policy for
additional information and appendices: https://www.ohiohighered.org/transfer/policy
https://dam.assets.ohio.gov/image/upload/transfercredit.ohio.gov/files/transfer/policy/OATN%20Policy%20Update%20(as%20of%209.29.22)-%20FINAL_11.1.22.pdf.
Application of transfer and articulated credit
The policy distinguishes between the acceptance and application
of transfer and articulated credit by the receiving institution to the
student's chosen program. Transfer credits accepted by the receiving
institution will be posted to the student's record and transcript. Students
will receive transfer credit for all college-level courses they have passed
and/or for articulated credit for prior learning successfully completed as
delineated in the policy. From among the credits which have been posted to the
student's record and appear on his or her transcript, the receiving
institution, within the provisions of this policy, will determine how credits
will or will not be applied toward degree requirements at the receiving
institution as follows:
(A) Ohio
transfer 36 (OT36): It is assumed that a common body of knowledge, comprised of
a subset or the complete set of an institution's general education curriculum,
can be found in the associate of arts, associate of science, and baccalaureate
degree programs offered at various institutions. An OT36 can be drawn from this
broader general education curriculum. Each institution has identified its OT36
according to the guidelines and learning outcomes appended. Students enrolled
in applied degree programs may choose to go beyond their degree requirements to
complete the entire OT36. Individuals who successfully complete the OT36 at one
public institution of higher education in Ohio will be considered to have met
the OT36 requirements of the receiving institution. Approved OT36 courses, when
taken individually, are also guaranteed for transfer among public higher
education institutions on a course-by-course basis and are to be applied to the
OT36 of the receiving institution.
(B) Transfer assurance guides (TAGs):
Discipline-specific guides, or pathway guarantees,
have been developed and explained in the policy as advising tools, each
containing selected courses from the existing Ohio transfer module,
pre-major/beginning major courses (called TAG courses), advising notes, and
foreign language requirement when appropriate. TAG courses are guaranteed to
transfer and be applied to specific TAG-related degree/program requirements as
equivalent courses.
TAG courses are
pre-major/beginning major courses that have been identified as common
requirements across public bachelor's degree programs. They are guaranteed to
transfer and apply to specific TAG-related degree/program requirements as
equivalent courses.
(C)
Career-technical assurance guides (CTAGs): Built upon a similar philosophy as
the TAGs, CTAGs facilitate the award and transfer of college credit in
technical courses/programs among public institutions of learning, including
secondary and adult career-technical institutions, colleges, and
universities.
(D) Military transfer
assurance guides (MTAGs): College credit is guaranteed for service members with
military training, experience, or coursework that is recognized by the american
council on education (ACE) or an institutional
accreditor that was formerly a regionally accredited military
institution, such as community college of the air force. Pathway guarantees
(MTAGs) have been developed to ensure the applicability of equivalent courses
toward specific degree and program requirements.
(E)
Industry-recognized credential transfer assurance guides
(ITAGs): Students meeting credentialing requirements, regardless of where the
learning was achieved, will be eligible to earn credit for specified courses
deemed equivalent by faculty and endorsed by Ohio's public institutions of
higher education to the stated industry-recognized credential. ITAGs are not
meant to replace career-technical assurance guides (CTAGs).
(E)(F)
Apprenticeship pathway programs: Technology-specific statewide articulation
agreements in apprenticeship programs recognize non-traditional prior learning,
for which college credit is awarded toward a technical associate
degree.
(F)(G) Prior learning
assessment (PLA): Prior learning at the college-level that is acquired through
means other than credit course enrollment (e.g., work experience,; professional training,; military training,; or
recognized examinations, certificates, and certifications) is assessed through
a number of rigorous evaluation methods. Credit is awarded and applied within
the scope of this policy. Credit transferred from
public institutions is transferable on the same basis as if the credit had been
earned through regular study at the awarding insitution. (See the
definitions section of this policy, prior learning and prior learning
assessment).
(G)(H) Advanced placement
(AP) exams: College credit is guaranteed for students who achieve an AP exam
score of 3 or higher in accordance with the course alignment
recommendations.
(H)(I) College-level
examination program (CLEP): College credit is guaranteed for students who
achieve an established college-level examination program (CLEP) test score for
exams that have been endorsed statewide as college level. Statewide faculty
panels aligned CLEP exams to equivalent Ohio
transfer 36 ()
OT36 and transfer
assurance guide (TAG) courses, as appropriate. Specific endorsed alignments and
scores for individual CLEP exams that are outlined in the college-level
examination program (CLEP) endorsed alignment policies document.
are available on the Ohio department of higher
education website at
https://www.ohiohighered.org/transfer/clep.
(I)(J) International
baccalaureate (IB) exams: Each public institution of higher education in Ohio
provides a policy including the minimum scores and course/credit alignments for
awarding college credit for successfully completed international baccalaureate
exams.
(J)(K) One-year option:
Adult learners are awarded technical course credit toward a general associate
of technical studies degree for completing an occupational skills training
program at an adult public career-technical education institution and the
respective credential approved by the chancellor.
(K)(L)
Associate-to-baccalaureate degree pathways: An
associate degree holder from an Ohio public institution of higher education is
able to apply his or her associate degree toward a baccalaureate degree program
in an equivalent field at any baccalaureate degree-granting public institution
of higher education.
Ohio guaranteed transfer pathways
(OGTPs): OGTP ensures that students who complete an associate degree in an OGTP
area enter a bachelor's degree program with junior standing and are able to
complete a bachelor's degree in an equivalent field in approximately sixty
additional credit hours. The OGTP initiative builds upon the existing statewide
credit transfer guarantees including the Ohio transfer 36, transfer assurance
guides, military transfer assurance guides, and career-technical assurance
guides. Baccalaureate degrees are typically completed in four semesters after
earning an associate of arts or associate of science degree. This may not be
true for transfer or native students who change programs of study or who fail
to complete the appropriate prerequisite or general education courses that
satisfy the OT36 or the broader general education or major requirements. For
example, students who complete algebra-based or applied physics courses to
satisfy the OT36 will find that they cannot transfer such courses to satisfy
the requirements for a bachelor of science degree in physics or engineering.
Appropriate lower-division courses that are prerequisite to upper-division
requirements in a given program must additionally be completed by the transfer
student.
(L)(M) Credit when it's
due: Through the credit when it's due program, participating institutions
collaborate to exchange the academic records of eligible transfer students to
determine if their previously earned college credit is sufficient to be awarded
an associate degree or certificate by applying credit before and/or after they
began their current degree or certificate program.
(M)(N) Application of
credit to the major, minor, and field of concentration: Other than the Ohio
transfer 36 (OT36), transfer assurance guides (TAGs), career technical
assurance guides (CTAGs), military transfer assurance guides (MTAGs),
apprenticeship pathway programs, advanced placement (AP) exams, the one-year
option, and the "2+2" programs
Ohio guaranteed transfer pathways (OGTPs), the
application of credit for requirements in a specific academic major, minor, or
field of concentration will be made on a course-by-course basis by the
receiving institution.
(N)(O) Treatment of upper-
and lower-division credit: A course completed at one public institution of
higher education and transferred to another will be applied to the student's
degree objective in the same manner as its equivalent course at the receiving
institution.
(O)(P) Applied associate
degrees: Applied degree graduates who transfer to an associate of arts (AA),
associate of science (AS), or bachelor degree program typically must complete
additional general education courses to satisfy the general education
requirements. Individual OT36 courses completed will transfer and apply toward
the OT36 of the receiving institution.
(P)(Q) Non-traditional
credit and electives: Non-traditional credit transfers as an equivalent
course(s) when available at the receiving institution. If there are no
equivalent courses and the courses are not applicable to the TAG, CTAG, MTAG,
OT36, general education requirements, or specific program requirements, such
courses will transfer or articulate as free or general electives when they
exist in a program.
