Vertical Transfer Regulation

REGULATION ON THE CONTINUATION OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES BY GRADUATES OF VOCATIONAL SCHOOLS
AND OPEN EDUCATION ASSOCIATE DEGREE PROGRAMS

(Official Gazette Date: 19.02.2002, Official Gazette No: 24676)

Purpose
ARTICLE 1 - The purpose of this regulation is to establish the principles and procedures for the vertical transfer and placement of successful graduates of vocational schools and open education associate degree programs into formal and open education undergraduate programs.

Scope
ARTICLE 2 - This Regulation covers the principles regarding the vertical transfer of students who have successfully completed vocational schools and open education associate degree programs into formal and open education undergraduate programs.

Legal Basis
ARTICLE 3 - This regulation has been prepared pursuant to subparagraph (e) of Article 7 of the Higher Education Law No. 2547 and subparagraph (e) added to Article 45 by Law No. 4702.

Application Requirements for Vertical Transfer
ARTICLE 4 (Repealed: Official Gazette 16/12/2007-26732)

Quota
ARTICLE 5 - Quotas are allocated in undergraduate programs so that graduates of vocational schools and open education associate degree programs can transfer vertically into undergraduate programs that are a continuation of the fields they have completed. These quotas may not be less than ten percent of the students who graduate after attending vocational school programs admitted without examination. Which undergraduate programs will be opened for graduates of vocational schools and open education associate degree programs who meet the requirements to apply for vertical transfer into formal undergraduate programs, which vocational school and open education programs qualify their graduates to apply to these undergraduate programs, the quotas of these programs and the score types to be used in placement are determined and announced by the Council of Higher Education, taking into account the opinions and recommendations of the universities to which vertical transfer will be made.

Examination Guide and Application Procedures
ARTICLE 6 - (Amended: Official Gazette 20/05/2006-26173) Each year, the Student Selection and Placement Center (ÖSYM) prepares a guide showing which undergraduate programs graduates of vocational schools and open education associate degree programs, as well as final-year students who have fulfilled all graduation requirements other than internship that year, may apply to for vertical transfer, the conditions of these programs and the number of students to be admitted. This guide includes the principles and rules on how candidates may apply, how they will make their undergraduate program preferences, the examination, assessment and placement procedures, and the procedures to be carried out by vocational school directorates and the units to which open education associate degree programs are affiliated. This guide enters into force with the approval of the Council of Higher Education. Vocational school directorates and the units to which open education associate degree programs are affiliated are responsible for checking and approving the compliance of application documents with the conditions set out in this Regulation, for delivering the application documents to ÖSYM at the end of the application period, and for completing the graduation procedures of final-year students by the last week of July and entering the academic grade point averages of all candidates, whether or not they graduate and whether or not they apply, into the lists sent electronically by ÖSYM and sending these lists to ÖSYM by 1 August.

Examination and Assessment
ARTICLE 7 - Candidates who meet the conditions set out in this Regulation and whose applications are accepted take an aptitude examination consisting of verbal and quantitative sections. In placement, the scores the candidates obtain in the aptitude examination and the academic grade point averages obtained in vocational school or open education associate degree programs, weighted according to the rules specified in the guide based on the aptitude examination results, are taken into account. How the Vertical Transfer Examination Score will be calculated by adding the Weighted Associate Degree Achievement Scores derived from academic grade point averages to the examination scores is determined by ÖSYM and included in the Vertical Transfer Examination Guide.

Placement
ARTICLE 8 - (Amended: Official Gazette 29/07/2011-28009) ÖSYM places candidates who meet the application requirements into undergraduate programs, taking into account their placement scores, the quotas and conditions of the undergraduate programs, and the preferences they make after the University Selection Examination results are announced. For candidates who were placed in a higher education program through central placement as a result of the previous year's Vertical Transfer Examination, the coefficient applied to the relevant weighted associate degree achievement score is reduced at a rate determined by the Council of Higher Education. If deemed necessary, additional placement may be made for vacant quotas by decision of the Council of Higher Education.

Preparatory Program for Undergraduate Studies
ARTICLE 9 - (Amended: Official Gazette 29/07/2011-28009)

"Undergraduate studies
ARTICLE 9 - For students who gain the right to begin undergraduate studies, their universities determine the courses they must take in the program by granting exemptions for courses taken during their associate degree education that are accepted as equivalent and by taking their credits into account. Students are registered in the program according to the courses they must take and are granted the right to continue their education. In programs taught in a foreign language and in programs with a compulsory foreign language preparatory class, students must pass the foreign language exemption examination administered by the university or successfully complete the foreign language preparatory class in order to begin the undergraduate program. In the foreign language preparatory class and during their undergraduate education, students are subject to the university's education regulation. Students who fail the foreign language preparatory class of programs in which at least 30% or all of the instruction is in a foreign language may be placed by ÖSYM in higher education programs taught in Turkish within the framework of the Regulation on the Principles to Be Followed in Foreign Language Teaching and Instruction in a Foreign Language in Higher Education Institutions, published in the Official Gazette dated 4 December 2008 and numbered 27074. Students who transfer vertically continue their studies in accordance with the provisions of Article 44 of Law No. 2547."

"ARTICLE 10 - (Amended: Official Gazette 29/07/2011-28011)
Article 7 does not apply to graduates of vocational schools and open education associate degree programs who wish to continue in open education undergraduate programs in their own field without quota limitations. These candidates gain the right of direct enrollment in open education undergraduate programs in their own field. Students are subject to the education and examination regulation of the relevant university and benefit from all student rights except military deferment procedures. Which vocational school and open education associate degree program graduates may apply to which open education undergraduate programs is decided by the Council of Higher Education upon the proposal of the universities, and information on the university websites where students can access this information is specified in the Vertical Transfer Examination Guide. The application and enrollment conditions for open education undergraduate programs are determined by the relevant university conducting the program and announced to candidates."

Repealed Legislation
ARTICLE 11 - As of the date this regulation enters into force, the "Regulation on the Continuation of Undergraduate Studies by Graduates of Vocational Schools and Open Education Associate Degree Programs" published in the Official Gazette dated 15 October 1999 and numbered 23847 has been repealed.

PROVISIONAL ARTICLE 1 - (Added: Official Gazette 08/01/2006-26047)
Students whose registration was deleted due to failure in the Foreign Language Preparatory Class pursuant to Article 9 of this Regulation may benefit from the right of placement in higher education institutions teaching in Turkish provided for in that article, if they apply to the Presidency of the Council of Higher Education within two months from the date of publication of this Regulation.

Entry into Force
ARTICLE 12 - This Regulation enters into force on the date of its publication.

Enforcement
ARTICLE 13 - The provisions of this Regulation are enforced by the President of the Council of Higher Education.