178.786.  Lower division core curriculum of forty-two semester hours, recommendation — common course numbering equivalency matrix — lower division core curriculum of sixty credit hours, equivalency matrix, requirements — report — evaluation criteria — board duties. — 1.  The coordinating board for higher education, with the assistance of an advisory committee composed of representatives from each public community college in this state and each public four-year institution of higher education, shall develop a recommended lower division core curriculum of forty-two semester credit hours, including a statement of the content, component areas, and objectives of the core curriculum.  A majority of the members of the advisory committee shall be faculty members from Missouri public institutions of higher education.

  2.  The coordinating board shall approve a common course numbering equivalency matrix for the forty-two credit hour block at all institutions of higher education in the state to facilitate the transfer of those courses among institutions of higher education by promoting consistency in course designation and course identification.  Each community college and four-year institution of higher education shall include in its course listings the applicable course numbers from the common course numbering equivalency matrix approved by the coordinating board under this subsection.

  3.  The coordinating board shall complete the requirements of subsections 1 and 2 of this section prior to January 1, 2018, for implementation of the core curriculum transfer recommendations for the 2018-19 academic year for all public institutions of higher education.

  4.  The coordinating board, with the assistance of an advisory committee composed of an equal number of representatives from each public community college in this state and each public four-year institution of higher education in this state, shall approve a separate sixty-credit-hour, transferable, lower-division course equivalency block and a common course numbering equivalency matrix for each of the following degree program areas:

  (1)  General business;

  (2)  Elementary education and teaching;

  (3)  General psychology;

  (4)  Nursing; and

  (5)  General biology or biological science, or both.

  5.  (1)  Any Missouri public community college or public four-year institution of higher education offering degree programs in one or more of the areas indicated in subdivisions (1) to (5) of subsection 4 of this section shall adopt the sixty-credit-hour, transferable, lower-division course equivalency block and common course numbering equivalency matrix for such degree programs.  Such institutions shall, in collaboration with the coordinating board and the advisory committee, develop an articulation pathway for each of the identified programmatic areas.

  (2)  Such community colleges shall modify existing or may develop new associate of arts or associate of science degree programs that align with the sixty-credit-hour, transferable, lower-division course equivalency block, pending institutional and coordinating board approval.

  (3)  Such public four-year institutions of higher education shall modify existing or may develop new bachelor of arts or bachelor of science degree programs, with the first sixty hours aligning with an associate degree developed under subsection 4 of this section, and with the remaining credit hours determined by such institution's faculty through standard procedures, pending institutional and coordinating board approval.

  (4)  A program modified or developed under subsection 4 of this section shall be granted, by the coordinating board, a special designation indicating that such program has been developed to provide a single articulation pathway to a four-year degree at any Missouri public four-year institution of higher education offering such program.  The goal of such designation shall be to provide transparency to students seeking a single articulation pathway to a given baccalaureate degree program.

  (5)  No institution of higher education in this state shall be required to adopt the sixty-credit-hour, transferable, lower-division course equivalency block for degree programs not offered at the institution.

  (6)  Program development at each public institution of higher education shall be completed in time for courses in the sixty-credit-hour, transferable, lower-division course equivalency block to be included in the 2028-29 catalog at each institution providing degree programs in the areas listed in subdivisions (1) to (5) of subsection 4 of this section.

  (7)  The coordinating board shall maintain a website providing students with clear information on the single articulation pathways developed under this subsection.

  6.  (1)  If a student successfully completes the sixty-credit-hour, transferable, lower-division courses at a community college or other public institution of higher education in this state, such block of courses may, upon the student's admission to such institution and such academic program, be transferred to any other public institution of higher education in this state and shall be substituted for the receiving institution's lower-division block for the corresponding degree program.  A student shall receive academic credit toward the student's degree for each of the courses transferred and shall not be required to take additional equivalent courses at the receiving institution for the same degree program.  This subdivision shall not be applicable to institutions not offering a program identified in subdivisions (1) to (5) of subsection 4 of this section or to any other degree programs not specified in subdivisions (1) to (5) of subsection 4 of this section.

  (2)  Due to program size limitations established for each institution by the state board of nursing, admissions to undergraduate nursing programs shall be considered on a space available basis and contingent upon students meeting program admissions requirements.  Additional courses may be required to complete the bachelor's degree.

  7.  A student who transfers from one public institution of higher education in this state to another public institution of higher education in this state without completing the sixty-credit-hour, transferable, lower-division course equivalency block of the sending institution shall receive academic credit toward the corresponding degree program from the receiving institution for each of the courses that the student has successfully completed in the sixty-credit-hour, transferable, lower-division course equivalency block of the sending institution.  Following receipt of credit for such courses, the student may be required to satisfy further course requirements in the sixty-credit-hour, transferable, lower-division course equivalency block of the receiving institution.  This subsection shall not be applicable to institutions not offering a program identified in subdivisions (1) to (5) of subsection 4 of this section or to any other degree programs not specified in subdivisions (1) to (5) of subsection 4 of this section.

  8.  The coordinating board shall report to the house higher education committee and the senate education committee on progress related to the requirements of subsections 4 to 11 of this section before December 31, 2026.

  9.  The coordinating board shall develop criteria to annually evaluate the effectiveness of the lower-division course equivalency block and common course numbering equivalency matrix for the degree programs listed in subdivisions (1) to (5) of subsection 4 of this section.

  10.  The coordinating board shall develop:

  (1)  Procedures to be followed by public institutions of higher education in resolving disputes concerning the inclusion or exclusion of a particular course in the lower-division course equivalency block and common course numbering equivalency matrix at a particular institution; and

  (2)  An appeals process for students enrolled in the degree programs listed in subdivisions (1) to (5) of subsection 4 of this section in the event that an institution fails to award academic credit to such student as provided in this section.

  11.  The commissioner of higher education or his or her designee shall make the final determination regarding any dispute or appeal concerning the lower-division course equivalency block and common course numbering equivalency matrix and shall give written notice of the final decision concerning the dispute or appeal to the involved institutions and student, as applicable.