MACRAO (Fall 2014 and Earlier)

The Michigan Transfer Agreement (MTA) replaced the MACRAO agreement for college students beginning in September 2014 or later. Students who had begun college before September 2014 and started making progress on the MACRAO requirements have the option to complete the MACRAO requirements or switch to the MTA.

A comparison worksheet can help students decide whether to continue with MACRAO or switch to MTA.

If these students choose to complete MACRAO, they must do so and request the endorsement from the community college before August 2019, when the community colleges will stop validating the completion of MACRAO.

Students following articulation agreements using MACRAO requirements may access these archived guides on our website. Students may also refer to links provided by the community colleges outlining their MACRAO requirements if needed to help plan their MACRAO completion.

Before Fall 2007

For students who started at a community college before fall 2007, Eastern Michigan University accepts the MACRAO agreement with the following four provisos:

A student whose community college transcript is certified as "MACRAO satisfied" will be required to fulfill only the four requirements that were part of EMU’s general education program prior to fall 2007:

  • An approved advanced writing or speaking course or a foreign language composition course;
  • An approved mathematical reasoning course (unless waived by an ACT math sub-score of 23 or higher or SAT math sub-score of 580 or higher);
  • An approved computer literacy course;
  • An approved cross-cultural/international studies course.

Effective Fall 2007 and Later

A student whose community college transcript is certified as "MACRAO satisfied" will be required to fulfill only the three university general education requirements below:

  • One approved quantitative reasoning course (unless waived by an ACT math sub-score of 28 or higher or (SAT math sub-score of 670);
  • One approved course in global awareness or U.S. diversity;
  • One approved Learning beyond the Classroom (LBC) course or experience completed at EMU.

The first two requirements may be transferred from the community college. The LBC requirement must be a course or noncredit experience completed at EMU. For more details about these requirements see the General Education Transfer Student Guidelines. To find community college courses that may be used to satisfy these requirements, look up the MACRAO transfer guide or General Education transfer guide for your community college in EMU's online transfer guides.

This agreement applies only to the general education program and does not exempt students from meeting requirements of their major, minor, or other graduation requirements. Students may obtain a copy of the curriculum for their intended major from EMU's Undergraduate Catalog to determine if any required courses might also be used to satisfy MACRAO.

How the MACRAO Agreement Works

The MACRAO Transfer Agreement stipulates that 30 or more semester hours of transferable, college-level coursework, from four specified distribution areas, may be transferred from a participating community college to a participating Michigan college or university and be applied toward meeting the student's general education requirements at the receiving institution. The courses that can be used to satisfy MACRAO are determined by the community college. Students must have their transcripts evaluated and certified as "MACRAO Satisfied" by their community college. Some community colleges require the student to initiate a formal request for a MACRAO evaluation. Check with your community college registrar's office or counseling office.

Minimum Requirements

Students must complete a minimum of 30 semester hours in courses selected from the four categories below. In each category, except English, courses must be taken in at least two academic disciplines.

  • English composition...............................................................6 credits
  • Science/mathematics (one lab science is required)..................8 credits
  • Humanities...............................................................................8 credits
  • Social science.........................................................................8 credits

Visit the MACRAO official website.

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