ARTICULATION REPORT

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
STATE BOARD OF COMMUNITY COLLEGES
TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA
DECEMBER 1994

LIST OF TABLES

ARTICULATION IN FLORIDA

ARTICULATION REPORT

TABLES

APPENDIX A: COMMUNITY COLLEGE PRESIDENTS

APPENDIX B: COMMUNITY COLLEGE ARTICULATION OFFICERS

APPENDIX C: UNIVERSITY PRESIDENTS

APPENDIX D: UNIVERSITY ARTICULATION OFFICERS

Table 1 - Florida Community College Transfer Students Attending Florida Public Florida Public Universities in the Fall Classified by Gender and University

Table 2 - Florida Community College Transfer Students Attending Florida Public Universities in the Fall Classified by Race and University

Table 3 - Florida Community College Transfer Students Attending Florida Public Universities in the Fall Classified by Age and University

Table 4 - Florida Community College Transfer Students Attending Florida Public Universities in the Fall Classified by Date of Entry into the University

Table 5 - Florida Community College Transfer Students Attending Florida Public Universities Classified by Semester Hours of Credit Transferred and by University

Table 6 - Florida Community College Transfer Students Attending Florida Public Universities Classified by Cumulative Semester Hours of Credit Earned

Table 7 - Florida Community College Transfer Students Attending Florida Public Universities in the Fall Classified by Community College of Origin and University (column Percents)

Table 8 - Florida Community College Transfer Students Attending Florida Public Universities in the Fall Classified by Community College of Origin and University (Row Percents)

Table 9 - Florida Community College Transfer Students Attending Florida Public Universities in the Fall Classified by Cumulative GPA Earned at the University

Table 10 - Comparison of Cumulative Grade-Point Averages Attained in Universities of Students Transferring Prior to Earning 60 Semester Hours (p) and Students Transferring After Earning 60 Semester Hours or More

Table 11 - Comparison of Cumulative Grade-Point Averages Attained in Universities of Students Transferring Prior to Earning 60 Semester Hours (p) and Students Transferring After Earning 60 Semester Hours or More (University Aggregate)

Table 12 - Mean Cumulative Grade-Point Averages and Standard Deviations Attained in Universities by Community College Transfer Students Attending Florida State Universities in the Fall

Table 13 - Mean Cumulative Grade-Point Averages and Standard Deviations Attained in Universities by Community College Transfer Students Attending Florida State Universities in the Fall

Table 14 - Florida Community College Transfer Students Attending Florida Public Universities in the Fall Classified by Major and University

Table 15 - Associate in Arts Graduates Performance in SUS, 1992-93 (Summer, Fall, Winter)

In 1957, a report entitled "The Community Junior College in Florida's Future" was approved by the State Board of Education. The report outlined the orderly development of a statewide system of community colleges, clearly designating community colleges as the entry point for students beginning their postsecondary education. At that time, Florida had three universities and four community colleges. The General Education Agreement guaranteed the transfer of all general education credits from a public community college to a state university. Also, this agreement prohibited the universities from requiring any additional general education courses if a student had completed a general education program at a community college.

During the rapid growth that followed, four universities were opened without a lower division and the other five had severe limitations placed on lower-level enrollments (hence, the two-plus-two system). During the same time, twenty-four new community colleges were opened in 1972, bringing the total to twenty-eight. This rapid expansion of the postsecondary systems spurred the development of a new articulation agreement.

From this foundation, a number of other programs, systems and activities have emerged, which serve to enhance the two-plus-two articulation system. This includes programs such as: common college and high school transcripts, dual enrollment programs, the designation of articulation officers at both the public community college and state university levels, the College Level Academic Skills Program, computerized academic advisement systems, program reviews, placement testing and a host of other activities. These enhancements reflect Florida's public educational institutions commitment toward the equitable treatment of transfer students and to the success of the two-plus-two system.

The Articulation Agreement, Rule 6A-10.024, Florida Administrative Code, facilitates the transfer of students from community colleges to the universities. That agreement also encourages the SUS and the Division of Community Colleges to cooperatively conduct longitudinal research on community college transfer students. It is in this spirit that the Articulation Report has been produced by the Division of Community Colleges since 1973. In 1974, the SUS established the Student Data Course File which contains records of all students enrolled in the universities. Since then, a stable format of that file has permitted longitudinal comparisons of students.

The reader may be interested in comparing groups of students of concern to him or her. Comparisons are not made herein, but sufficient information is provided for the reader to compare groups. Only brief comments will be made on the data contained in the various tables.

Tables 1, 2, and 3 display by gender, race, and age respectively, the frequencies of headcount enrollments of undergraduate students attending the SUS in the fall term where college of last attendance was a Florida community college. The percentage difference between male and female student enrollment has remained the same for the 1991-1993 Fall terms. During this three-year period, female students represented 56% of the total enrollment, White student enrollment decreased by 2%, Black student enrollment increased by 1.4%, Hispanic student enrollment increased by 0.6% and Asian student enrollment increased by 0.2%.

Table 4 shows that 32.6% of community college transfer students enrolled, for the first time, in the State University System in the 1991 Fall term. This percentage decreased in the 1992 and 1993 Fall terms.

Table 5 clearly shows that the majority (83.7%) of students in the 1993 Fall term transferred 60 semester hours or more upon entering the SUS. This rate is slightly less than in the 1992 Fall term. Table 6 shows the total number of semester hours accumulated, including hours transferred toward a degree for the 1991-93 Fall terms.

Tables 7 and 8 show the distribution of students by the university at which they were registered in the Fall term and the community college from which they transferred. Percentages in table 7 are for columns (universities) and in table 8 are for rows (community colleges). Table 8 indicates that the largest percentage of students who transfer from a community college tends to enroll in the nearest university.

Table 9 shows that most transfer students earned a grade-point average (GPA) of 2.50 or higher while enrolled in the SUS for the Fall term. GPA is based on a 4.0 system and is calculated by dividing grade points earned by semester hours attempted. Please note that the percent of community college transfer students earning 2.50 or better increased from 69.4 in the 1991 Fall term to 70.3 in the 1993 Fall term.

Table 10 displays two types of SUS students enrolled in the 1991-93 Fall terms: students transferring prior to earning 60 semester hours, and students transferring after earning 60 semester hours or more. Because cumulative GPA refers only to academic course work at a particular institution, the cumulative GPA shown in table 10 does not include the grades earned at the community college. Data for previous years are not shown, but are available in prior editions of Articulation Report.

Tables 12 and 13 present the same data as table 10 and 11 except that each N (enrollment) represents the total from a particular community college.

Table 14 shows the number of students enrolled in each major field of study for each university and for the system during the 1991-93 Fall terms. Each major field of study is divided into two subgroups: students earning a GPA of 2.00 or higher and students earning a GPA lower than 2.00. Mean GPA for each group is reported in the final column.

Table 15 reflects the full year, 1992-93 (Summer, Fall and Spring terms), GPA performance of community college students with an associate in arts degree versus native university students classified as upper division. Table 15 represents a State University System summary. As such, students are classified in slightly different major categories than in table 14. This may make cross comparisons difficult in some cases.