Civics knowledge now required to earn Florida college degrees

Florida college students who start their education this fall will need to prove, before they earn degrees, that they know something about American democracy, the nation’s founding documents and landmark events in United States history.

Students can meet this new “civic literacy” requirement by taking and passing certain American history or government courses in college or by passing tests in those subjects.

The State Board of Education approved the rule for state college students this week. The Florida Board of Governors approved an almost identical rule for university students in March.

The new rules, which come thanks to a 2017 state law, kick in for students who start college in the 2018-19 school year and apply to all new students, whether they’re enrolling at Valencia College, the University of Central Florida, or any other of the 28 colleges and 12 universities in Florida’s publicly funded higher education system.

All new college students can meet the civics requirement by taking one of the two courses while in college. Their other options: Students who took Advanced Placement U.S. history or A.P. government and politics classes in high school can meet the new college requirement, if they passed those AP exams with certain scores. They’ll need a score of 4 out of 5 on the U.S. history exam and a 3 out of 5 on the government one to meet the civics mandate.

Students can also take and pass a CLEP exam — a creditby-examination program that many colleges accept — in American government.

And, if they are at a state university, they can also take and pass the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services civics test — but with extra questions being crafted by state educators, including those at the Lou Frey Institute at UCF. The extra questions are necessary because the citizenship test doesn’t cover everything Florida’s law demands, particularly the requirement that students understand landmark U.S. Supreme Court decisions, officials said.

The state colleges decided not to make the citizenship test an option until administrators had time to review those supplemental questions, said Madeline Pumariega, chancellor of the state college system, speaking at this week’s state board meeting. But the citizenship test likely will be an option at the colleges in the future, she said. lpostal@orlandosentinel.com 407-420-5273