Illinois Articulation Initiative Program
Transferring General Education Courses
The Illinois Articulation Initiative (IAI) is a statewide transfer agreement among more than 100 public and private four-year and two-year higher education institutions in Illinois. The agreement is designed to facilitate students transferring between colleges and universities and works best for students who are undecided on the transfer-to institution that will grant their baccalaureate degree. The IAI General Education Core Curriculum (GECC) package consists of 12 to 13 courses (37 to 41 hours of credit) within a five-category designation. All schools participating in IAI agree to accept a completed IAI GECC package in lieu of their own comparable lower-division general education requirements.
The IAI GECC package requirements are as follows:
Communication: 3 courses (9 credits)
Humanities and Fine Arts: 3 courses (9 credits)
Mathematics: 1 to 2 courses (3 to 6 credits)
Physical and Life Sciences: 2 courses (7 to 8 credits)
Social and Behavioral Sciences: 3 courses (9 credits)
IAI policy is presented on the IAI website, and Illinois State University’s implementation requirements are below. Students who transfer out of Illinois State will be held to the requirements of their transfer institution.
General Education Options for Transferring Students
New transfer students have the option of completing either Illinois State’s General Education program or the Illinois Articulation Initiative General Education Core Curriculum (IAI GECC) package.
To be eligible for IAI, at least one transfer course must have been articulated to an IAI General Education Core Curriculum requirement. Transfer students who have satisfactorily completed at least one course within the IAI GECC are allowed to complete this program by enrolling in approved IAI courses at Illinois State University. Students should note, however, that IAI course availability may be limited.
The Illinois Articulation Initiative provides recommendations to participating IAI schools about Advanced Placement Credit. However, each school has the final decision about how to award/give credit for Advance Placement Exams.
Illinois State University policies on CLEP credit will be used to meet IAI General Education Core Curriculum requirements.
Waivers in the Illinois Articulation Initiative General Education Core Curriculum
If a student satisfactorily completes the objectives of a General Education Core area but earns fewer hours than required, the remaining hours for that area can be waived. However, students must complete the minimum of 12 courses, 37 hours, and the number of courses required in each area of the Core. Fractional hours can also be waived, but the minimum 37 hour total is still enforced.
For those students eligible to complete the Core, a transfer course articulated as an Illinois State University course approved for the IAI General Education Core Curriculum package will be applied toward the Core. Any course from a participating school approved by an IAI curriculum panel may be applied even if not articulated to an Illinois State course. Acceptance and placement of transfer credit as an elective from a non-participating IAI institution is only applicable to meet IAI GECC package requirements at Illinois State University. Students should consult their academic advisor regarding the application for waivers.
Effective May 1999, a student transferring to another institution, who has completed at least 37 semester hours, may request an audit, via a transcript request, of his or her records for completion of the IAI General Education Core Curriculum package.
Students transferring to Illinois State are required to fulfill all University graduation requirements.
Illinois Articulation Initiative Course Requirements
Regardless of category placement, a student may count no more than two courses from a single discipline to fulfill the General Education Core Curriculum requirements. Only one course assigned to an IAI course number may be used to fulfill a requirement (For example, since HIS 104A01 and HIS 104A03 both carry the IAI number of H2 903N, only one may be used).
Illinois State University courses approved for the IAI General Education Core Curriculum package are listed officially on the IAI website. The following list of courses is provided for convenience only. Some courses may have been added or deleted since the publication of this catalog.
D: Designates IAI courses designed specifically to examine aspects of human diversity within the United States.
N: Designates IAI courses designed specifically to examine aspects of human diversity from a non-U.S./non-European perspective. These courses satisfy the AMALI graduation requirement at Illinois State University.
*Western Civilization (H2 901 or S2 902 and H2 902 or S2 903) and American/U.S. History (H2 904 or S2 900 or S2 901) can be used in the IAI category approved by the college or university offering the course or in the category in which the articulated course equivalent was approved at the receiving institution.
12 to 13 courses (37 to 41 hours of credit)
IAI Categories
Communication (3 courses, 9 hours)
Mathematics (1 course, 3 hours)
Physical Sciences and Life Sciences (2 courses, 7 hours)
Students with appropriate preparation may substitute an initial course designed for science majors. One Life Science and one Physical Science course is required, of which one must be a lab (indicated by an L, e.g. P1 901L or L1 900L).Humanities and Fine Arts (3 courses, 9 hours)
One Humanities and one Fine Arts course required.Social and Behavioral Sciences (3 courses, 9 hours)
Two disciplines must be represented from the following list: Anthropology (S1), History (S2), Economics (S3), Geography (S4), Politics and Government (S5), Psychology (S6), Sociology (S7), Social Psychology (S8).
Search for IAI courses on the courses page of the catalog using the Course Attribute sidebar filter search