|| CAMPUS NEWS HOME

|| USF S-M IN THE NEWS

|| FACTS ABOUT USF S-M

|| CAMPUS EVENTS

|| RESOURCES FOR MEDIA

|| ONLINE NEWSLETTERS

|| OTHER USF SOURCES

:: Alumni Association

:: Bay Bulletin
:: Board of Trustees
:: Quick Facts
:: The Oracle (student
:: newspaper)
:: President's Office

:: USF Athletics

:: USF Magazine

:: USF Lakeland 
:: USF St. Petersburg
:: USF Tampa

:: WUSF

:: Online News Searches

Manatee Community College and USF Sarasota-Manatee to sign agreement for increased cooperation

New and improved “2 + 2 Program” will further streamline higher education options and opportunities in the region.

SARASOTA, FL, (April 17, 2006) – Many of Florida’s public two-year community colleges and upper-level universities are moving toward four-year programs – and in the process, they are indirectly increasing the statewide competition for college-level students.

However, two local higher education institutions are bucking that trend, with a novel concept: They are maintaining their original two-year charters and increasing their cooperation.  

The result: a local community that is better served by a public higher education arrangement that is complementary, not competitive. 

In 2001, Manatee Community College and the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee began their original articulation agreement, enabling a Joint Admissions Program commonly called the “2 + 2 Program.” It provided a structured, connected application process for MCC freshmen and sophomores who wanted to continue their junior and senior courses at USF Sarasota-Manatee. 

On April 19, 2006, the two organizations will enter into an extended articulation agreement that takes the education relationship to another level of interaction and cooperation. For example, to further enhance the seamless transfer process for students from MCC to USF, MCC students soon will receive provisional acceptance at USF after successfully completing the first 30 credit hours, or roughly the first year of a two-year degree, at MCC. 

Other examples of extended cooperation between MCC and USF under the new agreement will include a non-compete clause – which will preclude either school from offering degrees provided by the other. Additionally, both entities will collaborate to actively pursue joint-use facilities at the MCC Venice campus in order to provide greater access to post-secondary education in the south Sarasota County region.