Cross-registration in United States
higher education
Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education.
The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...
is a system allowing students at one
university
A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...
,
college
A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...
, or
faculty within a university to take individual
courses for
credit
Credit (from Latin verb ''credit'', meaning "one believes") is the trust which allows one party to provide money or resources to another party wherein the second party does not reimburse the first party immediately (thereby generating a debt) ...
at another institution or faculty, typically in the same region.
Cross-registration gives students access to a wider variety of subject matter at a certain logistical cost: travel time, inconsistent academic calendars, etc. It is governed by the home institution's regulations, which typically require that a similar course not be offered by the home institution, that the student not take too many outside courses, that certain basic types of courses be taken at the home institution, etc.
Among institutions, cross-registration is governed by agreements – bilateral or regional (often consortia). Money may or may not flow between the institutions to compensate for the difference between inbound and outbound cross-registrants. Cross-registration allows universities in a region to focus on their area of specialization at the cost of not having direct control of their students' academic experience.
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Academic administration