Transcript and Record Issues

An institution that verifies that the student has completed all seven GE buckets shall note “KS Systemwide General Education Completed” on its official transcript.

2. If a student completed the systemwide GE at one institution and subsequently transfers, is the receiving institution required to put the “KS Systemwide General Education Completed” notation on its transcript too?

The policy only explicitly requires the institution where the student completes the systemwide GE to include the “KS Systemwide General Education Completed” notation on the official transcript. While the receiving institution is not required to post the transcript notation, it may also be helpful for the receiving institution to post the notation “KS Systemwide General Education Completed at (insert institution)” on its transcript to signal to academic advisors and registrar/records personnel that the GE was completed at a previous institution.

3. What if an institution cannot put the “KS Systemwide General Education Completed” notation on its transcript for those students who have completed the systemwide GE?

If this is a concern at your institution, please contact Academic Affairs at the Board Office as soon as possible.

4. When looking specifically at GE course credit, what is required when a student provides official documentation of Advanced Placement scores, CLEP scores, International Baccalaureate, and Cambridge International scores?

As detailed in Chapter III.18.b , state universities and participating coordinated institutions award credit based on students achieving requisite scores on Advanced Placement, CLEP, International Baccalaureate exams, and Cambridge International exams consistent, with the provisions established in the Board’s Credit by Exam policy, for general education courses in:

• the subjects detailed in the six discipline buckets; and
• any applicable subjects within the institution’s institutionally designated bucket.

Unless an exception has been approved in accordance with the Credit by Exam policy, this requires institutions to award credit for an equivalent GE course or courses based on the following scores:

Thus, in practice, this means:

The exceptions in which a higher requisite score is acceptable are detailed here.

A compliance report detailing the requisite AP, CLEP, IB and CI scores and the corresponding GE credit that a student is eligible for at each institution will be presented to the Board in Fall 2024. Thus, if institutions are not currently applying these requisite scores in awarding credit in equivalent GE courses, it will be necessary to make changes soon to ensure compliance.

5. What if a transfer student provides an official transcript from a Kansas public institution that includes at least one GE course that was earned through credit by exam? What does this mean for the receiving institution?

Once recorded on a Kansas public institution’s transcript, credit earned by exam in GE courses is transferable on the same basis as if the credit had been earned through completing the course(s) at the awarding Kansas public institution. When a Kansas public institution awards credit by exam in any general education subject detailed in one of the six discipline buckets, the receiving Kansas public institution shall not be permitted to require the transfer student to provide official copies of the exam scores.

6. Does KBOR expect Degree Maps for all of academic programs?

Yes, guidance is detailed here.