Transient Students

A transient student is one who is attending another college or university, but who wishes to earn credits at Polk State College to fulfill degree requirements at his or her home institution. A transient student must begin the enrollment process a full two weeks prior to the start date for the course. The student must meet the following requirements for enrollment:

• Submission of an Official Transient Form (or statement from the home institution certifying good standing and indicating the particular course(s) to be taken). If the student is from an in-state or participating private institution, the transient request must be submitted through the Florida Shines website (www.FloridaShines.org); this submission acts as the student’s application.
• Submission of an application through the Polk State website (www.polk.edu) if the home institution does not participate in the electronic transient request process through Florida Shines (www.FloridaShines.org).
• Selection of the appropriate course(s) that the home institution accepts toward the program of study.
• Submission of a request for an official Polk State College transcript to be sent to the home institution at the end of the term.

A Polk State College student wishing to attend another college as a transient student must:

• Not have any holds on his or her account.
• Have a cumulative 2.0 GPA or higher. If the student has just completed the first semester at Polk State, he or she must wait until grades are posted with the GPA to apply to be a transient student.
• Be in good academic standing (e.g., not be on Warning or Probation status).
• Be starting the second term (or a subsequent term) at Polk State. A student cannot be a transient student during the first term at Polk State College. The student must have an established academic record to qualify for transient status.

Note: If the student enrolls at Polk State during a fall term, he or she may request transient status for the spring term. If the student enrolls at Polk State in a spring term, he or she may request transient status for the summer term.

• Meet the prerequisites for a given course at Polk State in order to be eligible to take the course elsewhere.
• Obtain approval from a student success advisor and the Registrar’s Office to take the desired course at another school. A student must review the information provided by Florida Shines (FloridaShines.org) to determine if all state and participating institutions can be used for transient credit (Note: USF does not use Florida Shines transient processing). If an institution does not participate in the electronic transient process, the student must complete a paper Transient Request Form (available through a student success advisor). It is important to determine early in the decision-making process if a selected institution participates in transient processing.
• Ensure that the course to be taken is eligible to be repeated (if this is applicable).
• Request that a transcript from the institution to be sent to the Polk State Registrar’s Office immediately after grades are posted. If the student does not submit the transcript, he or she is ineligible for registration in future terms at Polk State College.
• Provide an official letter of non-attendance from the other institution if the individual decides not to take the class.
• Ensure that the class to be taken is applicable towards the student’s degree program at Polk State College.