Transforming the transfer pathway

Nebraska’s Central Community College and the University of Nebraska-Kearney have a new pathway program for criminal justice education. (Photo: CCC)

When students apply to a four-year college or university directly from high school, they know they want to earn at least a bachelor’s degree. Not all students who enroll in community colleges have the same clarity about their future.

Despite the best efforts of community colleges to guide students into pathways once they arrive, many students are unsure if they ultimately want to pursue a four-year degree. A significant number are first-generation college students who don’t have a model of success to follow within their family, and some might not have the self-confidence to believe they can achieve a four-year degree.

This excerpt comes from the current issue of the Community College Journal, published bimonthly by the American Association of Community Colleges.

This lack of clarity about their educational goals is one of many hurdles that community colleges face in helping students successfully transfer to a four-year institution.

If academic advisors know early on whether students are interested in a four-year degree, they can steer students toward courses that will facilitate transfer to a university. Otherwise, students might not have the foundation of courses they need to move on to a four-year college.

“It’s a puzzle we’re constantly trying to figure out,” said Candace Walton, vice president of innovation and instruction for Central Community College (CCC) in Nebraska.

A new program that the American Association of Community Colleges has developed in partnership with the American Association of State Colleges and Universities and the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities could help community colleges solve this puzzle. Called the Equity Transfer Initiative (ETI), this two-year grant program aims to help colleges increase transfer rates among underrepresented students in particular, such as Black, Latinx, adult and first-generation learners.

Participating colleges and their four-year partner institutions are using the grant resources to forge agreements that will make it simpler to transfer credits and otherwise ease the transition for students who want to earn a four-year degree. The lessons they’re learning could inform the work of other colleges in this area.

Mapping the process

CCC has worked with the University of Nebraska-Kearney (UNK) to accept transfer students for as long as the college has existed.

“We’ve always had a good working relationship, though at arm’s length,” Walton said.

ETI is further strengthening this relationship. Walton has had frequent conversations with her colleague at UNK, Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management and Marketing Kelly Bartling, to discuss how the two institutions can enhance transfer success.

“I have zero doubt when I call her with questions or problems that she’ll pick up the phone and respond, and I’ll do the same when she calls me,” Walton said. “That trust creates additional opportunities.”

Transferring to a four-year institution is easier when students have earned an associate degree because these programs have been designed to lead seamlessly to a four-year degree. However, when students are working toward an associate of applied science (AAS) degree, continuing on to earn a four-year degree becomes much harder. Because AAS programs are intended to prepare graduates directly for the workforce and are considered terminal degrees, the curriculum traditionally hasn’t been developed with transfer in mind.

CCC and UNK are working to change that through their ETI-funded project, so that students who start out assuming they’ll only earn a two-year degree but then change their minds have a pathway for success.

Faculty from the two institutions have been meeting to map out how AAS degrees from CCC might lead to a bachelor’s degree from UNK.

“This sounds small, but it’s actually a big deal when you consider how crazy everyone’s schedules are,” Walton said.

This work began with CCC’s AAS degree in criminal justice program, which has seen its enrollment triple over the last three years. An articulation agreement was signed in July, making it the first AAS program in Nebraska to lead directly to a four-year degree from a state university. By the end of August, at least five students had successfully moved on to UNK from CCC’s criminal justice program — all but one of whom identified as a first-generation and/or Hispanic student.

The two institutions are close to an agreement for accepting CCC’s AAS in business administration as well. Future articulations will focus on computer science, human services, early childhood education and construction technology, among other fields.

“Our goal is to make sure students can meet whatever goal they set for themselves, whether that’s a two-year or a four-year degree,” Walton said.

Read the full article.

About the Author

Dennis Pierce
Dennis Pierce is an education writer based in Boston.
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