General education courses; common prerequisites; other degree requirements.

(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 review and recommend to the Articulation Coordinating Committee for approval by the State Board of Education and the Board of Governors statewide general education core course options for inclusion in the statewide course numbering system established under s. 1007.24. Faculty committees shall, by July 1, 2024, and by July 1 every 4 years thereafter, review and submit recommendations to the Articulation Coordinating Committee and the commissioner for the removal, alignment, realignment, or addition of general education core courses that satisfy the requirements of this subsection.

(a) 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.

(b) 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.

(c) General education core courses may not distort significant historical events or include a curriculum that teaches identity politics, violates s. 1000.05, or is based on theories that systemic racism, sexism, oppression, and privilege are inherent in the institutions of the United States and were created to maintain social, political, and economic inequities.

(d) General education core courses must meet the following standards:

1. Communication courses must afford students the ability to communicate effectively, including the ability to write clearly and engage in public speaking.

2. Humanities courses must afford students the ability to think critically through the mastering of subjects concerned with human culture, especially literature, history, art, music, and philosophy, and must include selections from the Western canon.

3. Social science courses must afford students an understanding of the basic social and behavioral science concepts and principles used in the analysis of behavior and past and present social, political, and economic issues.

4. Natural science courses must afford students the ability to critically examine and evaluate the principles of the scientific method, model construction, and use the scientific method to explain natural experiences and phenomena.

5. Mathematics courses must afford students a mastery of foundational mathematical and computation models and methods by applying such models and methods in problem solving.

(e) 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.

(f) All public postsecondary educational institutions shall offer at least one general education core course in each of the identified subject areas and accept courses as meeting general education core course requirements upon transfer, regardless of whether the receiving institution offers the identical general education core courses. The remaining general education course requirements shall be identified by each institution as approved in accordance with this section and listed in the statewide course numbering system.

(g) A public postsecondary educational institution may not require a student to complete an additional course to meet a subject area distribution requirement that was completed by the student with a course that has since been removed as a general education core course.

(h) 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)(a) An associate in arts degree must 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 the 2014-2015 academic year and thereafter, coursework for an associate in arts degree must 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 must count toward the associate in arts degree or the baccalaureate degree.

(b) An associate in arts specialized transfer degree must include 36 semester hours of general education coursework and require 60 semester hours or more of college credit. Specialized transfer degrees are designed for Florida College System institution students who need supplemental lower-level coursework in preparation for transfer to another institution. The State Board of Education shall establish criteria for the review and approval of new specialized transfer degrees. The approval process must require:

1. A Florida College System institution to submit a notice of its intent to propose a new associate in arts specialized degree program to the Division of Florida Colleges. The notice must include the recommended credit hours, the rationale for the specialization, the demand for students entering the field, and the coursework being proposed to be included beyond the 60 semester hours required for the general transfer degree, if applicable. Notices of intent may be submitted by a Florida College System institution at any time.

2. The Division of Florida Colleges to forward the notice of intent within 10 business days after receipt to all Florida College System institutions and to the Chancellor of the State University System, who shall forward the notice to all state universities. State universities and Florida College System institutions shall have 30 days after receipt of the notice to submit comments to the proposed associate in arts specialized transfer degree.

3. After the submission of comments pursuant to subparagraph 2., the requesting Florida College System institution to submit a proposal that, at a minimum, includes:

a. Evidence that the coursework for the associate in arts specialized transfer degree includes demonstration of competency in a foreign language pursuant to s. 1007.262 and demonstration of civic literacy competency as provided in subsection (5).

b. Demonstration that all required coursework will count toward the associate in arts degree or the baccalaureate degree.

c. An analysis of demand and unmet need for students entering the specialized field of study at the baccalaureate level.

d. Justification for the program length if it exceeds 60 credit hours, including references to the common prerequisite manual or other requirements for the baccalaureate degree. This includes documentation of alignment between the exit requirements of a Florida College System institution and the admissions requirements of a baccalaureate program at a state university to which students would typically transfer.

e. Articulation agreements for graduates of the associate in arts specialized transfer degree.

f. Responses to the comments received under subparagraph 2.

(c) The Division of Florida Colleges shall review the proposal and, within 30 days after receipt, shall provide written notification to the Florida College System institution of any deficiencies and provide the institution with an opportunity to correct the deficiencies. Within 45 days after receipt of a completed proposal by the Division of Florida Colleges, the Commissioner of Education shall recommend approval or disapproval of the new specialized transfer degree to the State Board of Education. The State Board of Education shall consider the recommendation at its next meeting.

(d) Upon approval of an associate in arts specialized transfer degree by the State Board of Education, a Florida College System institution may offer the degree and shall report data on student and program performance in a manner prescribed by the Department of Education.

(e) The State Board of Education shall adopt rules pursuant to ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54 to prescribe format and content requirements and submission procedures for notices of intent, proposals, and compliance reviews under this subsection.

(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 résumé.

(12) A student who received an associate in arts degree 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 must 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.