East Stroudsburg University and Northampton Community College are Stronger Together with Announcement of New Dual Transfer Partnership

Photo: from left, first row, Dr. Carolyn Bortz, vice president for academic affairs, Northampton Community College; Dr. Mark Erickson, president, Northampton Community College; Kenneth Long, interim president, East Stroudsburg University; and Joanne Z. Bruno, J.D., provost and vice president for academic affairs, East Stroudsburg University. Second row, Karen Bearce, associate vice president for academic affairs, Northampton Community College; Elizabeth Reeves, alumna, Northampton Community College and East Stroudsburg University; Dr. William Bajor, director of assessment, accreditation, and academic planning, East Stroudsburg University; and Dr. Margaret Ball, associate provost, East Stroudsburg University

East Stroudsburg University (ESU) Interim President Kenneth Long and Northampton Community College (NCC) President Dr. Mark Erickson, announced a new premiere partnership today during an agreement signing on NCC’s Monroe campus near Tannersville, Pa. The new partnership, NCC-ESU Pathway to Success: Stronger Together, will facilitate enhanced and seamless access for NCC students to ESU’s upper division undergraduate and graduate programs through 2+2+1 pathways.

“President Erickson and I are aligned in our passion and dedication to make this a seamless process for students transitioning from the community college to a four-year institution in order to best meet the educational needs of the northeast region,” said Long. “The thing that sets this agreement apart is that we envision NCC to hold occasional classes on ESU’s campus, and have ESU faculty teach at NCC. We want to continue to put all students first.”

NCC’s President Erickson echoed Long’s enthusiasm for the partnership. “As a college of the community, expanding affordable access to higher education is core to our mission,” said Erickson. “This new partnership guarantees admission to ESU for our graduates with significant available scholarship dollars that will allow them to take advantage of the same excellent and affordable education at ESU as they did at NCC.”

ESU is already the top college transfer destination for NCC students, with more than 300 graduates each year enrolling at ESU. “What makes this partnership even more compelling is that NCC students thrive once they arrive at ESU,” said Carolyn Bortz, NCC’s vice president of Academic Affairs. “Students who earn a two-year degree at NCC before attending ESU, graduate at a higher rate than other ESU students and they graduate more quickly than their peers who did not attend NCC.”

“In this post-COVID time when students are uncertain about when or how to come back to higher education, we wanted to create viable pathways for students to obtain an associate degree at NCC while simultaneously supporting them in a transition into parallel academic programs at ESU,” said ESU’s Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Joanne Z. Bruno, J.D. “We have had a number of successful partnerships with NCC through the years, but this one truly promises to provide  NCC students ultimate access and affordability to a two-year degree,  a four-year degree and further, if they so choose.”

According to the agreement, participating NCC students must obtain an associate degree or approximately 60 semester credit hours with a minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.0 prior to entering a four-year program at ESU. Eligible students will enter ESU with junior status dependent upon the number of transfer credits and appropriate sequencing. These students will not be required to complete more than 60 credits at ESU in order to earn a bachelor’s degree unless they are transferring into a program with accreditation or licensing/certification standards that may require additional credits.

If the NCC student transfers to ESU without an associate’s degree but with 60 credits or more, ESU will coordinate efforts for the student to transfer back to NCC the general education or major credits earned to satisfy the requirements and support the awarding of an associate degree.

To financially help students achieve a four-year degree, ESU Transfer Scholarships will be available to any NCC transfer who meets GPA requirements:

ESU Transfer Scholarships	Total Award	Amount per Semester	GPA Requirement
Platinum	$6,000 annually	$3,000/semester	3.50 to 4.00
Gold	$4,000 annually	$2,000/semester	3.00 to 3.49
Silver	$2000 annually	$1,000/semester	2.50 to 2.99

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