Students who began their studies at a community college in Pennsylvania before transferring to a university within Pennsylvania\u2019s State System of Higher Education might already have earned enough credits to receive their first degree. And now there\u2019s an easy way for them to get it, through the newly launched \u201creverse transfer\u201d initiative.<\/p>\n
The 14 community colleges in the state and the 14 State System universities today signed a statewide reverse transfer agreement that will allow students who have earned at least 60 total credits to apply for an associate degree from the community college where they started. Receiving the degree could immediately enhance the student\u2019s earning potential, even as he or she continues working toward a bachelor\u2019s degree or other certification or credential at a State System university.<\/p>\n
The signing of this agreement is a great addition to the work already being done at East Stroudsburg University (ESU) where more than 73% of its 901 transfer students transferred from a community college. ESU\u2019s eight reverse transfer agreements and 67 articulation agreements with 13 community college partners in Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey reflect the university\u2019s longstanding and growing commitment to serving transfer students.<\/p>\n
Additionally, on March 28, ESU was named among the top 40 colleges and universities nationwide being recognized by Phi Theta Kappa as an inaugural member of the Excellence in Community College Transfer Honor Roll, which identifies the four-year colleges and universities for creating dynamic pathways to support community college transfers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe State System universities and the community colleges are natural partners,\u201d said State System Chancellor Frank T. Brogan. \u201cThis agreement is another example of how we can work together on behalf of students all across the Commonwealth. It\u2019s a win-win for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCollaborating with the State System on this agreement is the next step in the commitment of Pennsylvania\u2019s community colleges to increase student completion rates to benefit both students individually and the Commonwealth as a whole,\u201d said Luzerne County Community College President Thomas P. Leary, who also serves as chair of the Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges.<\/p>\n
A student who earns an associate degree is more likely to complete the work necessary to receive a bachelor\u2019s degree. \u201cIf their studies toward a bachelor\u2019s degree are interrupted for any reason, with this program, they will still have their associate degree, which will benefit them as they prepare to enter the workforce or will help enable them to move up the career ladder,\u201d said Elizabeth Bolden, president and CEO of the Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges.<\/p>\n
Many students who initially enroll at a community college do so with the intent of eventually earning a bachelor\u2019s degree, staying long enough to earn an associate degree before transferring to a four-year college or university. Some leave before earning a degree, either to transfer or to go directly into the workforce.<\/p>\n
The Reverse Transfer Program gives those who transferred without a credential a pathway to their first college degree.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been in the business of reverse transfer agreements since September 2014 when we signed our first\u00a0agreement with Raritan Valley Community College,\u201d said ESU President Marcia G. Welsh, Ph.D. \u00a0\u201cWe\u2019ve seen the number of reverse transfer agreements continue to grow, which is a clear indication that these partnerships with community colleges are what students want and need.\u201d<\/p>\n
Students who began their postsecondary education at any community college in Pennsylvania and earned a minimum of 45 credits before transferring to any State System university can participate in the new program. Eligible credits may include those earned through Prior Learning Assessment (PLA), Advanced Placement (AP), College Level Examination Program (CLEP), Credit by Exam and the military.<\/p>\n
A student must have enrolled at a State System university within five years of leaving the community college and have earned at least 15 additional credits at a State System university to be considered for the program. Their State System credits will be transferred back to the community college and applied to the requirements for the associate degree.<\/p>\n
The State System universities will identify eligible students once they complete the 60 total credits and invite them to participate in the reverse transfer program. If interested, the eligible students will fill out a release form and their State System university transcript will be sent to the community college for review and evaluation.<\/p>\n
If approved, the community college will award the degree. Students will not be charged either a graduation or transcript fee by either institution involved.<\/p>\n
Illustrative of this initiative, a new partnership was developed between ESU and Northampton Community College (NCC) last month. It enables NCC students graduating from its registered nursing program to transfer seamlessly into ESU\u2019s B.S. in nursing program and complete it within 18 months.<\/p>\n
Student Diane Jones of Bethlehem, who completed her R.N. in December at NCC in Bethlehem Township recently made the commitment to transfer to the B.S. in nursing program at ESU. \u00a0For her, the beauty of the program was that she is able to take all her ESU classes at NCC.\u00a0\u201cESU made it so convenient.\u00a0It\u2019s easy for everything to transfer over,\u201d said Jones.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s also very affordable,\u201d\u00a0she added. \u201cThat was key.\u201d<\/p>\n
The first degrees could be awarded through the program as early as this summer. Many students likely already are eligible. Others could be once the current semester ends in May.<\/p>\n
Pennsylvania\u2019s State System of Higher Education is the largest provider of undergraduate and graduate education in the Commonwealth, with about 107,000 degree-seeking students and thousands more who are enrolled in certificate and other career-development programs. Collectively, the 14 universities that comprise the State System offer more than 2,300 degree and certificate programs in more than 530 academic areas. Nearly 520,000 State System university alumni live in Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n
The State System universities are Bloomsburg, California, Cheyney, Clarion, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro, Indiana, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock and West Chester Universities of Pennsylvania. The universities also operate branch campuses in Oil City (Clarion), Freeport and Punxsutawney (IUP), and Clearfield (Lock Haven), and offer classes and programs at several regional centers, including the Dixon University Center in Harrisburg and in Center City in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n
The Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges is a voluntary membership association for Pennsylvania\u2019s community colleges, which collectively are the largest providers of undergraduate education in the state, serving more than 313,000 students in 2014-15.<\/p>\n
Pennsylvania\u2019s community colleges are Bucks County Community College, Butler County Community College, Community College of Allegheny County, Community College of Beaver County, Community College of Philadelphia, Delaware County Community College, HACC \u2013 Central Pennsylvania\u2019s Community College,\u00a0 Lehigh Carbon Community College, Luzerne County Community College, Montgomery County Community College, Northampton Community College, Pennsylvania Highlands Community College, Reading Area Community College and Westmoreland County Community College. The colleges operate 26 campuses and 84 instructional sites and centers, serving students from every county in the Commonwealth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Students who began their studies at a community college in Pennsylvania before transferring to a university within Pennsylvania\u2019s State System of Higher Education might already have earned enough credits to receive their first degree. And now there\u2019s an easy way for them to get it, through the newly launched \u201creverse transfer\u201d initiative.<\/span><\/p>\n The 14 community colleges in the state and the 14 State System universities today signed a statewide reverse transfer agreement that will allow students who have earned at least 60 total credits to apply for an associate degree from the community college where they started. Receiving the degree could immediately enhance the student\u2019s earning potential, even as he or she continues working toward a bachelor\u2019s degree or other certification or credential at a State System university.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13916,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[143,22,42,58],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13914","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-facebook","category-news-release","category-slider"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13914"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13914"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13914\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13920,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13914\/revisions\/13920"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}