A bill in the Arizona Legislature is calling for a system that would require all universities and community colleges to use the same course numbers in an attempt to increase efficiency during transferring college credits and saving money for students.
The measure, SB 1186, was approved unanimously by the state Senate last week and will be discussed by the House of Representatives as early as next week.
College course numbering systems exist to some degree in at least 12 states, including Florida, which has been using a similar system since 1971.
Texas practices a universal college course numbering system voluntarily, rather than enter it into state law.
The Arizona Students’ Association spearheaded the effort to get the bill into the Legislature, even helping write the bill itself.
Elma Delic, board chair of ASA, helped create the bill.
“The common course number bill would save a lot of tuition money in the long term,” Delic said.
Brendan O’Kelly, Undergraduate Student Government president, said the bill would eliminate the confusion that students have about transferring credits.
The actual course numbers can change between colleges, O’Kelly said.
“Now, a student spends hours meeting with an adviser looking to see if and where their courses match up,” he said. “This bill would help fix that problem.”
If the bill is passed, the Arizona Board of Regents and community college districts would work together to align all 100- and 200-level courses, and would have to finalize their plans by Feb. 1, 2011, according to a fact sheet for the bill.
Delic said the bill would save students money in tuition because they wouldn’t retake classes they’ve taken elsewhere if the course numbers made class equivalents clear.
“Tuition is going to increase tremendously in the future,” Delic said. “This is a creative way to save some money for students. Students will not mistakenly retake a class they’ve already taken.”
The Board of Regents is neutral to the bill, ABOR spokeswoman Katie Paquet said.
“We are gathering information on what it would cost to implement the bill,” Paquet said.
Delic said that cost of implementing the course number changes wouldn’t be a concern.
“[The Legislature is] concerned about the cost and afraid that with the state funding we won’t be able to implement the bill,” she said. “But that isn’t the case at all. Other states do it, and it does not cost anything.”
The bill’s sponsor, John Huppenthal, R-Phoenix, said the challenge will be in implementing the changes if the bill is signed into law.
ASA did a great job in indentifying the problem with the course number issue and acting on it, he said.
“It is an example of what you can do from any position that any person can help develop an improvement to state law,” Huppenthal said.
Reach the reporter at kpatton4@asu.edu
