UF has changed its policy to accept more incoming credits from high school exams after learning it was in violation of a statewide regulation.
The violation may have resulted in students taking classes they had already earned credit for in high school.
UF sent an e-mail Friday to about 3,200 current students who were affected by the policy change said Steve Orlando, UF spokesman.
Before the change went into effect, UF accepted up to 30 credit hours from Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, Advanced International Certificate of Education (AICE) and College Level Examination Program (CLEP) exams.
UF will now accept up to 45 credits from these exams.
Orlando said UF made the change to comply with a Florida Board of Governor's regulation that went into effect about 3 years ago.
"The Board of Governors brought it to our attention that it needed to be fixed, and we fixed it," he said.
The board governs the state's 11 public universities. UF has already adjusted the credit hours for the freshman class, Orlando said. He said UF urged all others who may be affected to contact their academic advisers. He said there was a slim chance the violation may have delayed graduation dates for some students.
"It's conceivable but, you know, they probably already made up the difference anyway, so it really wouldn't have affected anybody," he said.
The violation may have also caused students to pay for classes they would have had credit for if UF had been in compliance with the regulation.
When asked for comment on the possible financial impact on students and the state, which pays tuition for more than 70 percent of UF's undergraduates through Bright Futures, Orlando said he didn't think the policy had affected many students.
It's unusual for students to come in with more than 30 credits, he said.
Bill Edmonds, board spokesman, said there is usually no penalty if a university fails to implement a regulation.
