2.23 LIMITED ACCESS PROGRAMS

Effective: January 19, 2000

PURPOSE

To explain the operation of limited access programs.

AUTHORITY/SOURCE

FAC 6C-6.001

POLICY

A limited access program utilizes selective admission to limit program enrollment. Limited access status is justified where student demand exceeds available resources, such as faculty, instructional facilities, equipment or specific accrediting requirements. Criteria for selective admissions include indicators of ability, performance, creativity or talent to complete required work within the program. Florida Community College transfer students with Associate in Arts degrees are given equal consideration with FIU students. Admissions to such programs are governed by the Articulation Agreement and the State of Florida Board of Regent rules.

PROCEDURE

There will be a documented justification for the program to be classified as limited access. This documentation must be submitted to the Board for review and approval at least 6 months prior to the start of the limited access program. The criteria for assigning limited access status to an educational program includes demand by qualified students in excess of available resources (student-faculty ratios, instructional facilities, equipment, or specific accrediting requirements), standards of selectivity, and national or state needs for graduates of the program. Annually, each university will reevaluate the need to continue to classify the program as limited access. The university will report to the Board by October 1 of each year a list of limited access programs, the minimum admissions standards for each program, and a copy of the most recent review demonstrating the need for retention of limited access status. This annual report shall include for each limited access program the following categories, by race and gender: the number of applicants, the number of applicants granted admission, the number of applicants who are granted admission and enroll, the number of applicants denied admission, and the number of applicants neither granted admission nor denied admission. Each category shall be reported by type of student, including the following subcategories: native students (students who started at the university as first-time-in-college students with less than 12 semester hours of credit), community college associate of arts degree transfer students, and other students. Each category and subcategory shall further be reported according to the number of students who meet or exceed the minimum eligibility requirements for admission to the program and the number of students who do not meet or exceed the minimum eligibility requirements for admission to the program. Programs assigned limited access status will be reviewed by the Board in the course of its five-year system-wide program review process.

All criteria shall be approved by the Board and registered with the Articulation Coordinating Committee prior to implementation.

Any criteria used to select students shall not discriminate against community college transfers with Associate in Arts degrees from Florida public community colleges in favor of SUS students who are applying for admission or plan to continue enrollment after the completion of 60 semester credits at the lower division level.

Any criteria used to select students shall be appropriate indicators of academic ability, creativity or talent to perform required work within the program and of the potential for success.

Any criteria used shall be publicized in catalogs, counseling manuals, and other appropriate publications in accordance with FAC 6A-10.23(13), with sufficient time for prospective students to adjust programs to meet criteria.

Where necessary to achieve established equal access enrollment goals, up to ten percent of the students may be admitted to a limited access program with different criteria.

Each university shall advise students who meet the minimum requirements for admission to the upper division of a state university, but are denied admission to limited access programs, of the availability of similar programs at other State University System institutions and the admissions requirements of such programs.

Associate in Arts degree graduates from Florida community colleges and university students who have successfully completed 60 or more credit hours of course work and met the requirements of Section 240.107, Florida Statutes, shall receive priority over out-of-state students for admission to limited access programs, teacher certification programs, or major programs requiring an audition or portfolio.

The Board may declare certain degree programs as limited access programs. In the case of the programs for which prerequisites are required for admission, the prerequisites by themselves will not cause a program to be declared limited access. That is, if all the applicants meeting the prerequisites are admitted to the program, the program is not a limited access program. Associate in Arts graduates from Florida public community colleges and universities who have not completed prerequisite courses for a given major shall be admitted to a university in order to complete those prerequisites, after which program admission can be determined. University degree programs may be declared as limited access programs for the following reasons:

1. The number of students who have met all the requirements for admission to the university and to the program is in excess of the available resources (examples are: space, equipment or other instructional facilities; student-faculty ratios; fiscal or other resource limitations). In the case of such programs, selection for admission shall be competitive. The selection criteria shall be determined by the program, recognizing that the standards applied to the criteria may vary from term to term depending on the number of student spaces available and the quality of the applicant pool. The selection criteria shall be published in the university catalog along with the standards used for admissions decisions at the time the catalog is published.

2. The program is of such a nature (normally in the fine or performing arts) that applicants must demonstrate through an audition or submission of a portfolio that they already have the minimum skills necessary for them to benefit from the program.

3. The program is a teacher certification program covered by the provisions of Section 240.529, Florida Statutes, and a passing score at the 40th percentile or above on a nationally standardized college entrance examination is a prerequisite for admission.

4. The program is one for which the grade point average required for admission is above that required for admission to the university offering the program.

5. When an institution has exceeded its upper-level FTE enrollment limit as assigned by the Legislature by more than five percent, programs which have not normally been designated as limited access programs may need to limit enrollment. If the institution's actual student credit hour productivity exceeds the institution's funded enrollment to this extent, the institution may take corrective actions in subsequent terms such as limiting admission of new students into upper level programs, limiting course loads of enrolled students and/or other measures as may be necessary to stay within funded enrollment levels. Florida community college Associate in Arts graduates and university students who have successfully completed 60 credit hours of course work and met the requirements of Section 240.017, Florida Statutes, shall receive priority for admission to such limited access programs over out-of-state and other transfer students.

Page last updated: April 3, 2002