The State University System (SUS) is Florida's 12 public universities, governed by the Florida Board of Governors. It's a separate system from the Florida College System (FCS), the state's 28 public state/community colleges, governed by the Florida Department of Education, which includes FSCJ. An AA degree from FSCJ is built to transfer into the junior year of a bachelor's degree at an SUS university, and Florida's 2+2 agreements are what make that transfer guaranteed instead of just possible.
The 12 SUS universities
Every public, four-year university in Florida belongs to this one system. A student applying to any of these is applying to an SUS school, whether or not the name says "University of Florida" on it:
| University | Location | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Florida A&M University (FAMU) | Tallahassee | Florida's historically Black public university |
| Florida Atlantic University (FAU) | Boca Raton | |
| Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) | Fort Myers | |
| Florida International University (FIU) | Miami | One of the largest SUS schools by enrollment |
| Florida Polytechnic University | Lakeland | Florida's newest SUS school; STEM-only degrees |
| Florida State University (FSU) | Tallahassee | |
| New College of Florida | Sarasota | Florida's small honors college; smallest SUS school |
| University of Central Florida (UCF) | Orlando | One of the largest universities in the country |
| University of Florida (UF) | Gainesville | |
| University of North Florida (UNF) | Jacksonville | Mandarin's local SUS school |
| University of South Florida (USF) | Tampa | |
| University of West Florida (UWF) | Pensacola |
Want deadlines, application platforms, and typical admitted-student stats for each one? See How & When to Apply.
How an FSCJ AA degree transfers: the 2+2 idea
"2+2" means two years at a Florida College System school (like FSCJ, earning an Associate in Arts degree) followed by two years at an SUS university to finish a bachelor's degree. Florida builds AA coursework so it lines up with the first two years of a bachelor's degree, and backs that up with a few different levels of guarantee:
1. The Statewide Articulation Agreement (applies everywhere in Florida)
Since 1972, Florida law has guaranteed that a student who earns an AA degree from any Florida College System school is admitted with junior standing to a State University System school, with all 60 transferable credit hours accepted and no additional general education coursework required. This guarantee is statewide, not tied to FSCJ specifically, and it comes with two important limits:
- It guarantees admission to a Florida public university, not the specific one a student prefers. Getting into a particular school and major still depends on that school's own requirements.
- It does not guarantee entry into limited-access majors (programs that cap enrollment and require separate admission, like Nursing), even at the university that admits the student.
2. FSCJ/UNF Connect: a specific 2+2 guarantee for Jacksonville students
FSCJ has its own named 2+2 partnership with UNF, Jacksonville's own SUS school. An FSCJ AA graduate who meets the program's requirements is guaranteed general admission to UNF, on top of the statewide guarantee above. For most Mandarin families planning to stay local, this is the most direct FSCJ-to-SUS path.
3. Major-specific 2+2 agreements FSCJ has with other SUS schools
Beyond the statewide guarantee, FSCJ also has its own articulation agreements with several SUS universities for specific majors. These guarantee admission to that university, in that major, for FSCJ AA graduates who meet the requirements:
| University | Majors covered by an FSCJ 2+2 agreement |
|---|---|
| UNF | Business, Nursing (plus the general FSCJ/UNF Connect guarantee above) |
| UF | Business, Nursing |
| USF | Business, Hospitality, Nursing |
| UCF | Business, Hospitality, Nursing, Radiologic Technology |
| FSU | Business, Hospitality, Nursing |
| UWF | Hospitality, Nursing |
| FAU | Business, Nursing |
| FGCU | Business, Nursing |
| FIU | Business, Hospitality, Nursing |
| FAMU | Business, Nursing |
| Florida Polytechnic University | No FSCJ 2+2 major agreement currently listed |
| New College of Florida | No FSCJ 2+2 major agreement currently listed |
Several SUS universities advertise their own branded transfer programs, like "DirectConnect to UCF" or "FUSE" at USF. These names sound like they'd apply to any Florida state college student, but each one is actually limited to a specific list of regional partner colleges, and FSCJ is not on either of those two lists. If a student hears about one of these by name, don't assume it applies automatically. What actually applies to FSCJ students is the statewide agreement and the FSCJ-specific 2+2 agreements listed above. Always confirm current agreements directly with FSCJ's transfer services office.
Sources: Florida Department of Education, Postsecondary Articulation; FSCJ Transfer Services, Statewide Articulations and 2+2 Programs; University of North Florida, FSCJ Connect; UCF DirectConnect and USF FUSE partner-institution pages. Agreements and covered majors change; always confirm current details with your counselor and the official sources above. Last reviewed: September 2026.