STUDENT SUCCESS
Transferring Credits
Today, one third of college students attend more than one institution on their way to a credential. For many of these students, however, the credits they’ve earned aren’t easily transferable. The result? Wasted time, wasted credits, and wasted money. It’s clear that improvements in this area are urgently needed.
THE CREDIT TRANSFER DISCONNECT
RESEARCH ON THE DISCONNECT BETWEEN POLICY AND PRACTICE REVEALS THAT WELL-MEANING STATE TRANSFER AND ARTICULATION POLICIES OFTEN BREAK DOWN AT CAMPUS LEVEL.
36 states have a transferable general education core
16 states have a common course numbering system
And yet, transfer students lose an average of 13 credits
FIXING A BROKEN SYSTEM
FIELD UNDERSTANDING OF THE ROOT CAUSES OF BROKEN TRANSFER SYSTEMS HAS IMPROVED, BUT EFFORTS TO FIX THE PROBLEMS FACE SIGNIFICANT CHALLENGES.
MOVING FORWARD, SOLUTIONS SHOULD FOCUS ON:
Collecting data and reporting on:
Number of credits rejected by receiving institutions
Transfer rate
Time/credits to credential
Post-transfer completion rate
Cost of excess credits to credential
Creating and regularly refreshing major-specific program maps
Promoting policies that require students to declare their field of interest by the end of their first year
Emphasizing fairness in financial aid allocation
SOURCES:
http://postsecondary.gatesfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/PostsecondarySuccessAdvocacyPriorities2016.pdf
http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/brand-connect/wp/enterprise/data-driven-support-improves-student-completion-rates-at-community-college/