The System of Assignment and Transfer of Academic Credits (Sistema de Asignación y Transferencia de Créditos Académicos, SATCA) in Mexico: origin, follow-up and prospective

Abstract

This document analyzes the origin, evolution, current status and future scenarios of the implementation of the National System of Assignment and Transfer of Academic Credits in Mexico, approved on October 2007 by the General Assembly of the National Association of Universities and Higher Education Institutions (ANUIES, in Spanish). The purpose of this new scheme is to provide necessary support to curricular innovations in force at higher education institutions (IES, in Spanish), namely flexibility of curricula, student mobility, cost reduction and affectation to students who wish to switch from one institution to another.

The SATCA is supported by academicians but administrative staff is not that sure due to costs implied and the need to adjust regulations and school control processes. The following concepts are clarified: nomenclature, criteria application, ranges for curricula consideration, as well as limitations of SATCA. The paper states that the substitution of the previous Tepic criteria with this new system is a clearly defined well based irreversible process.