Students New to ACM: Students must first be accepted into the University of South Carolina-Columbia and declare or be enrolled in an ACM-approved degree program before applying for Academic Common Market privileges. If you have been awarded a scholarship that includes a tuition reduction, and have also been approved for Academic Common Market by USC, you will receive the award amount from the scholarship, but only one or the other tuition reduction. The University will always give the student the better of the two tuition rates; this is almost always the Academic Common Market tuition reduction.
ACM privileges are applicable only for the degree, program, and concentration specified in your ACM Certification of Residency form.
It is the student's responsibility to monitor the progress of their application for the ACM Certification of Residency. Students are urged to follow up with their home state ACM Coordinator to make sure that they have received all necessary materials, and that the ACM Certification document has been forwarded to USC. You can visit the SREB Academic Common Market website to contact your participating state's ACM Coordinator.
Deadlines: Please note, our deadlines have changed.
- The deadline for Maymester 2012 forms is May 4, 2012.
- The deadline for Summer I 2012 is May 18, 2012.
- The deadline for Summer II 2012 is June 22, 2012.
- The deadline for Fall 2012 is August 13, 2012.
ACM Certification forms for semesters underway or already completed will not be approved by USC.
Students Already in ACM:If you change majors out of your ACM-approved major or concentration for any reason, your ACM benefits will be terminated and you will be billed for the out-of-state tuition differential for the semester the change was made.
A change of major or concentration to a different ACM program approved by your state requires you to reapply to your state for certification in the new major/concentration. Contact the USC ACM office for assistance before changing your major.
If you are a USC student but not yet in ACM, the best time to apply for Academic Common Market is at a time when you are not enrolled in classes, ideally during May or early Summer. Students are strongly advised not to initiate an Academic Common Market application during the three weeks immediately preceding the Spring semester; there is not enough time to complete the process due to the university closure for the winter holiday.
In order to qualify for Academic Common Market tuition benefits, students must remain enrolled full-time. For the Fall and Spring semesters, full-time is 12 credit hours or more, and for the Summer semesters, full-time is 6 credit hours. It is not necessary to take summer classes to retain your ACM status from the Spring through to the subsequent Fall semester.
IT IS THE STUDENT'S RESPONSIBILITY TO REMAIN INFORMED ABOUT AND ABIDE BY THE ACM POLICIES OF THEIR HOME STATE, AND OF THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA.
