While course variation can be a problem for students who transfer from other universities, those who transfer within Penn State's Commonwealth Campuses also face credit transfer problems.

Jeff Markowitz, Council of Commonwealth Student Governments academic affairs director, said he was made aware of the issue of curriculum drift about two months ago through the Joint Committee on Curricular Integrity.

Curriculum drift refers to credit from courses at Commonwealth Campuses not transferring toward majors at University Park. It also refers to courses containing similar material not being recognized because of different course numbers.

"It's starting to happen and that's not what we want at Penn State," said Janis Jacobs, vice provost for undergraduate education and international programs. "We want the move [to University Park] to be seamless."

Jacobs and fellow guest speaker Rodney Erickson, executive vice president and provost, answered questions about the issue at the Undergraduate Student Government Academic Assembly meeting Monday night.

Jacobs said an example of the curriculum drift issue can be seen through the psychology major, which is offered under 11 different degrees across the Commonwealth Campus system.

A student may take a psychology course to meet a requirement for the major at a Commonwealth Campus, but that course might not meet that same requirement at University Park.

Erickson said similar classes at different locations may vary, but should have about 80 percent of the material in common.

"Students changing locations to another campus may not have the same background as they are expected to have," he said.

Erickson said a way to solve this problem would be to encourage faculty to communicate and share their syllabi between campuses.

Markowitz said the problem can be exacerbated if students are not checking their degree audits and are not meeting with their advisers to ensure they are meeting their requirements.

"It seems like a systematic issue," Markowitz said.

"It's not an enormous problem -- it's rather not a question of a broken thing, but a leaky pipe. There's no reason to panic about these courses," he added.

Markowitz said he will work closely with the committee and the assembly may make some recommendations next semester when they reconvene.