Topic outline
General
The North Carolina High School to Community College Articulation Agreement is an agreement between the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction and the North Carolina Community College System.
The North Carolina High School to Community College Articulation Agreement provides a seamless process that joins secondary and postsecondary Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs of study.
This statewide articulation agreement comprises approximately 50 high school CTE courses that match the knowledge and skills taught in similar community college courses. The articulation agreement ensures that if a student is proficient in his/her high school course, the student can receive college credit for that course at any North Carolina community college. This streamlines the student's educational pathway by eliminating the need to take multiple courses with the same learning outcomes.
Statewide Articulation Agreement
Local Articulation Agreements
In addition to this statewide articulation agreement, local articulation agreements can be developed to build strong partnerships between high schools and individual community colleges. These local articulation agreements respond to new and emerging industries, provide for programs unique to the region, and add additional articulated courses and pathway alignments at the local level that are not included in the state agreement.
- Developing a Local Articulation Agreement File 1.3MB PDF document
- Team Responsibilities worksheet File 12.1KB Word 2007 document
- Part 1 - Course Competency Chart worksheet File 16.7KB Word 2007 document
- Part 2 and 3 - Comments and Recommendations worksheet File 19.1KB Word 2007 document
Process to Document and Award Credit
To receive articulated credit, students must enroll at the community college within two years of their high school graduation date and meet the following criteria:
- Final grade of B or higher in the course and
- A score of 93 or higher on the standardized CTE postassessment *
High school students who enroll in a Career and College Promise pathway may earn articulated college credit as described in this agreement while enrolled in high school, if the CTE articulated college credit is part of their Career and College Promise pathway.
Community college officials verify eligibility and acceptance of articulated courses listed on the high school transcript. Students may be asked to submit supporting documentation to receive credit. Colleges must follow the criteria of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) Commission on Colleges in awarding credit.
* The requirements for Early Childhood Education courses are different. See the September 2016 memo.
* Due to the Impact of COVID-19, CTE postassessments were not given in Spring 2020, and might not be given in Fall 2020 and Spring 2021. The test score requirement for affected students will be waived. See the May 2020 and the October 2020 memos.
Field Tests
During times of curriculum revision, when field tests and revised curriculum guides are implemented, state-wide CTE postassessment scores are not available. In order to award articulated credit, LEAs should do the following.
- Scale the midterm and final field tests.
- Average the midterm and final field test scores to get the combined field test score.
- Follow the Process to Document and Award Articulated Credit.
Course Review Process
This articulation agreement builds on the 1999 and 2005 articulation agreements. This agreement recognizes the high school's conversion to teaching and assessing CTE courses using the Revised Bloom's Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing.
Updates to the articulation agreement begin with recommendations from state-level curriculum consultants from both agencies. Then under the direction of the 58 community college chief academic officers, community colleges and the LEAs in their service area evaluate the potential course matches. These teams examine the course descriptions, secondary course blueprints, postsecondary course syllabi, secondary essential standards, and postsecondary student learning outcomes. Courses with a significant match are recommended for inclusion in the articulation agreement.
History of the Articulation Agreement
- 2005 Articulation Agreement File 162.7KB PDF document
The "Other" Articulation Agreement
The articulation agreement on these pages is between the high schools and the community colleges.
The North Carolina Comprehensive Articulation Agreement (CAA) is a statewide agreement governing the transfer of credits between N.C. community colleges and N.C. public universities.
Related Documents
- Memorandum of Agreement for Early Childhood Education (September 2009) File 299KB PDF document
- EC Letter - scale score vs raw score - curriculum revision (May 2010) File 44.5KB PDF document
- Update to the criteria to award articulated credit. (July 2011) File 11.2KB PDF document
- Memorandum of Agreement for Early Childhood Education (September 2016) File 784.9KB PDF document
- Credit Awarding Change Due to COVID-19 for Spring 2020 (May 2020) File 173.4KB PDF document
- Credit Awarding Change Due to COVID-19 for 2020-2021 academic year File 112.1KB PDF document