(1) The department shall identify the degree programs offered by public postsecondary educational institutions.
(2) The department shall identify postsecondary career education programs offered by Florida College System institutions and district school boards. The department shall also identify career courses designated as college credit courses applicable toward a career education diploma or degree. Such courses must be identified within the statewide course numbering system.
(3) The chair of the State Board of Education and the chair of the Board of Governors, or their designees, shall jointly appoint faculty committees to identify statewide general education core course options. General education core course options shall consist of a maximum of five courses within each of the subject areas of communication, mathematics, social sciences, humanities, and natural sciences. The core courses may be revised, or the five-course maximum within each subject area may be exceeded, if approved by the State Board of Education and the Board of Governors, as recommended by the subject area faculty committee and approved by the Articulation Coordinating Committee as necessary for a subject area. Each general education core course option must contain high-level academic and critical thinking skills and common competencies that students must demonstrate to successfully complete the course. Beginning with students initially entering a Florida College System institution or state university in 2015-2016 and thereafter, each student must complete at least one identified core course in each subject area as part of the general education course requirements. Beginning in the 2022-2023 academic year and thereafter, students entering a technical degree education program as defined in s. 1004.02(13) must complete at least one identified core course in each subject area as part of the general education course requirements before a degree is awarded. All public postsecondary educational institutions shall accept these courses as meeting general education core course requirements. The remaining general education course requirements shall be identified by each institution and reported to the department by their statewide course number. The general education core course options shall be adopted in rule by the State Board of Education and in regulation by the Board of Governors. (4) The chair of the State Board of Education and the chair of the Board of Governors, or their designees, shall jointly appoint faculty committees to identify the competencies within the general education core courses which demonstrate career readiness and will result in the award of a verifiable and interoperable nationally recognized digital credential. All public postsecondary educational institutions shall grant and accept the identified digital credential. Beginning with students initially entering a Florida College System institution or state university in 2022-2023 and thereafter, each student must be able to distinguish in the institution’s or university’s catalog which general education core courses are linked to earning a digital credential.
(5)(a) Beginning with students initially entering a Florida College System institution or state university in the 2018-2019 school year and thereafter, each student must demonstrate competency in civic literacy. Students must have the option to demonstrate competency either through successful completion of a civic literacy course or by achieving a passing score on an assessment. The State Board of Education must adopt in rule and the Board of Governors must adopt in regulation at least one existing assessment that measures competencies consistent with the required course competencies outlined in subparagraph (b)2.
(b) Beginning with students initially entering a Florida College System institution or state university in the 2021-2022 school year and thereafter, each student must demonstrate competency in civic literacy by achieving a passing score on an assessment and by successfully completing a civic literacy course. Credits earned for such courses via articulated acceleration mechanisms in s. 1007.27 will count toward the civic literacy competency requirement. The State Board of Education and the Board of Governors shall adopt by rule and regulation, respectively, approved assessments that address the competencies in subparagraph 2. and courses that meet the requirements in subparagraph 1. The chair of the State Board of Education and the chair of the Board of Governors, or their respective designees, shall jointly appoint a faculty committee to:1. Develop one or more new courses in civic literacy or revise an existing general education core course in American History or American Government to include, at a minimum, opportunities to engage synchronously in political discussions and civil debates with multiple points of view and to master the ability to synthesize information that informs civic decisionmaking.
2. Establish course competencies and identify outcomes that include, at a minimum, an understanding of the basic principles of American democracy and how they are applied in our republican form of government, an understanding of the United States Constitution, knowledge of the founding documents and how they have shaped the nature and functions of our institutions of self-governance, and an understanding of landmark Supreme Court cases and their impact on law and society.
(6) The department shall identify those courses offered by universities and accepted for credit toward a degree. The department shall identify courses designated as either general education or required as a prerequisite for a degree and the digital credentials that may be earned through the general education core courses. The courses shall be identified by their statewide course numbers.
(7) The department shall identify common prerequisite courses and course substitutions for degree programs across all institutions. Common degree program prerequisites shall be offered and accepted by all state universities and Florida College System institutions, except in cases approved by the State Board of Education for Florida College System institutions and the Board of Governors for state universities. The department shall develop a centralized database containing the list of courses and course substitutions that meet the prerequisite requirements for each baccalaureate degree program.
(8) The universities and Florida College System institutions shall work with their school districts to ensure that high school curricula coordinate with the general education curricula and to prepare students for college-level work. General education curricula for associate in arts programs shall be identified by each institution and include 36 semester hours in the subject areas of communication, mathematics, social sciences, humanities, and natural sciences.
(9) An associate in arts degree shall require no more than 60 semester hours of college credit and include 36 semester hours of general education coursework. Beginning with students initially entering a Florida College System institution or state university in 2014-2015 and thereafter, coursework for an associate in arts degree shall include demonstration of competency in a foreign language pursuant to s. 1007.262. Except for developmental education required pursuant to s. 1008.30, all required coursework shall count toward the associate in arts degree or the baccalaureate degree. (10) A baccalaureate degree program shall require no more than 120 semester hours of college credit and include 36 semester hours of general education coursework, unless prior approval has been granted by the Board of Governors for baccalaureate degree programs offered by state universities and by the State Board of Education for baccalaureate degree programs offered by Florida College System institutions.
(11) Courses that provide instruction in student life skills, including career planning and exploration, or similar instruction, and fulfill the requirements for a degree in subsection (9) or subsection (10) or a degree from a technical degree education program as defined in s. 1004.02(13), may use state career planning resources and provide students with the opportunity to create a digital resume. (12) A student who received an associate in arts degree for successfully completing 60 semester credit hours may continue to earn additional credits at a Florida College System institution. The university must provide credit toward the student’s baccalaureate degree for an additional Florida College System institution course if, according to the statewide course numbering, the Florida College System institution course is a course listed in the university catalog as required for the degree or as prerequisite to a course required for the degree. Of the courses required for the degree, at least half of the credit hours required for the degree shall be achievable through courses designated as lower division, except in degree programs approved by the State Board of Education for programs offered by Florida College System institutions and by the Board of Governors for programs offered by state universities.
(13) Students at state universities may request an associate in arts certificate if they have successfully completed the minimum requirements for the degree of associate in arts. The university must grant the student an associate in arts degree if the student has successfully completed minimum requirements for the associate in arts degree, as determined by the state university. The university must notify students of the criteria and process for requesting an associate in arts certificate during orientation. Additional notification must be provided to each student enrolled at the university upon completion of the requirements for an associate in arts degree. Beginning with students enrolled at the university in the 2018-2019 academic year and thereafter, the university must also notify any student who has not graduated from the university of the option and process to request an associate in arts certificate if that student has completed the requirements for an associate in arts degree but has not reenrolled at the university in the subsequent fall semester and thereafter.
(14) The Commissioner of Education shall appoint faculty committees representing both Florida College System institution and public school faculties to recommend to the commissioner for approval by the State Board of Education a standard program length and appropriate occupational completion points for each postsecondary career certificate program, diploma, and degree offered by a school district or a Florida College System institution.
