What is Reverse Transfer?
Reverse Transfer is a statewide articulation agreement to award the Associate in Arts (AA) degree to eligible students who transfer without earning the AA degree from a Florida public college (known as the Florida College System, or FCS) and subsequently complete the AA degree requirements at a Florida public university (known as the State University System, or SUS). Reverse Transfer provides eligible students the opportunity to earn the AA degree even after they have transferred, if they meet the criteria below.
For more information about the Reverse Transfer program, visit the Florida Department of Education, Office of Articulation, Reverse Transfer website.
Who is eligible?
Currently-enrolled FIU students who meet ALL of the following criteria:
- Transferred from an FCS institution without earning the AA degree
- Earned more than 30 credits that count toward the AA degree at a single FCS institution, plus the remaining credits at FIU to equal the minimum 60 credits applicable toward the AA degree
- Completed the FIU University Core Curriculum (UCC) requirements, which include general education courses
- Completed the college-level communication and computation competencies, per SBOE Rule 6A-10.030, Florida Administrative Code (part of FIU’s UCC requirements)
- Have NOT yet earned the AA, a bachelor’s or higher degree, and are not enrolled in their graduating term at FIU
- Be in good academic standing, current with financial obligations, and not have any pending student conduct or academic integrity issues at FIU
- Have an overall cumulative GPA of 2.00 or higher at FIU
- Completed the civic literacy requirement per section 1007.25(4), Florida Statutes (F.S.)
- Completed the foreign language requirement per F.S. 1007.25(8)
What are some of the benefits to having the AA degree?
- AA earners have higher earning potential than high school counterparts.
- AA earners have lower unemployment rates than high school counterparts.
- AA earners are more likely to persist and complete the bachelor’s degree.
- Earning the AA recognizes a student’s achievement of work completed and credits earned.
- The AA is a recognized degree/credential by employers; therefore, it is beneficial for students seeking jobs.
- The AA gives students opportunities to request promotions, raises, or bonuses from employers who value and incentivize continuous education.
- The AA can include unanticipated benefits, such as discounts on car insurance.
- The AA is often required or highly beneficial for admission to other institutions.
What is the Reverse Transfer process?
- At the end of every term (three times during an academic year), after grades are posted, FIU will proactively evaluate student records and identify eligible students. It is the responsibility of each eligible student to ensure that FIU receives all final official transcripts, including official score reports for credits earned via accelerated mechanisms (such as AP, IB, CLEP).
- FIU will notify each eligible student, who can then “opt in” to the Reverse Transfer process.
- Students may also “opt out” at any time prior to FIU officially notifying and sending the students’ transcripts/information to the FCS institution.
- NOTE: “Opting in” does not guarantee that students will be awarded the AA degree automatically; it simply means that the FCS institution will evaluate the students’ transcripts to determine if they are eligible for the AA degree.
- FIU will send an electronic transcript to the previous FCS institution for eligible students who “opt in.”
- The FCS institution will evaluate the student records and award the AA degree, if eligible.
- Non-eligible students will be notified by the FCS of any missing requirements.
How do I opt-in?
How do I opt-out?
Student privacy and exchange of information
All student information shared between FIU and the FCS institution(s) to facilitate the reverse transfer process will be in compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 U.S.C. section 1232g) requirements and applicable Florida statutes, rules, and regulations pertaining to privacy of student information.
To adhere to the FERPA requirements, only students who actively “opt-in” to the reverse transfer process will have their transcript electronically and securely sent to the FCS institution(s) where they earned more than 30 credits. Students who do not respond by the deadline set for every term will be considered non-consenting and will not be eligible for reverse transfer in subsequent terms, unless they later initiate a request for reverse transfer.
