Senate Bill 997 established the Higher Education Core Transfer Curriculum Act (Sections 178.785-789 RSMo), which directs the Coordinating Board for Higher Education to develop a standard core transfer curriculum and a common course numbering equivalency matrix for lower-division general education courses. The core transfer curriculum, known as CORE 42, is a framework for general education that all Missouri public two-and four-year institutions of higher education adopted effective for the 2018-2019 academic year. The goal of the CORE 42 is to facilitate the seamless transfer of academic credits. The completion of the CORE 42 at any public institution of higher education will transfer to every other public institution of higher education in the state and substitute for the receiving institution’s general education requirement. Individual courses that comprise the CORE 42 are guaranteed to transfer one-to-one among all public (and participating independent) colleges and universities in Missouri. Additional details can be found on the CORE 42 Transfer Types page. Information on appeals can be found on the Transfer Appeal Process page.
The framework for Missouri’s CORE 42 is designed for students to obtain the basic competencies of Valuing, Managing Information, Communicating, and Higher-Order Thinking through the completion of at least 42-semester hours distributed across the broad Knowledge Areas of Communications, Humanities & Fine Arts, Natural & Mathematical Sciences, and Social & Behavioral Sciences. Students obtain the competencies through completion of the CORE 42 in its entirety.
Courses that do not have the CORE 42 designation may still transfer; however, Ozarks Tech encourages students to check the transfer equivalency website of the institution to which they plan to transfer in order to be sure.
All Associate of Arts (AA) degrees at Ozarks Technical Community College follow the Missouri Higher Education Core Transfer Curriculum (CORE 42) for their general education requirements. Some AA programs, however, may specify a more limited selection of eligible courses within certain knowledge areas. Students who complete all CORE 42 Knowledge Areas and Distribution Requirements using MOTR-designated courses, regardless of their active degree program, will receive the notation “General Education Complete” on their official transcript.
Knowledge Area & Distribution Requirements
| KNOWLEDGE AREA | DISTRIBUTION REQUIREMENT |
|---|---|
| Mathematical Sciences | Three (3) credit hours minimum. Mathematical Sciences courses that use one of the pathways courses as a prerequisite will meet the general education credit for math. For example, Calculus meets the general education math requirement since Pre-Calculus Algebra is a prerequisite. |
| Written Communication | Six (6) credit hours minimum. |
| Oral Communication | Three (3) credit hours minimum. |
| Humanities & Fine Arts | Nine (9) credit hours minimum, from at least two (2) disciplines. There is a limit of three (3) credit hours of Performance (PERF) courses that can be applied to the Humanities & Fine Arts Knowledge Area and to the total CORE 42. |
| Natural Sciences | Seven (7) credit hours minimum, from at least two (2) disciplines, including one course with a lab component. |
| Social & Behavioral Sciences | Nine (9) credit hours minimum, from at least two (2) disciplines, including at least one Civics course.** |
| CORE 42 Electives | Remaining five (5) credit hours may come from:
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**Note that the civics requirement in CORE 42 is different from and does not fulfill the requirements of RSMo 170.013, Missouri Higher Education Civics Achievement Examination.
Additional information and resources about CORE 42 can be found at the Missouri Higher Education Core Transfer Curriculum website, including the CORE 42 Overview & FAQ.
The full Missouri Code of State Regulations (CSR) can be found on the Guidelines for Student Transfer and Articulation Among Missouri Higher Education Institutions.