New Funding to Streamline Transfer Pathways in
North Carolina from Two-year
colleges to Four-year Private Colleges and Universities
RALEIGH,
N.C., July 16, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- A newly
funded technology platform provides more assurance to North Carolina community college students that
their credits will count toward a bachelor's degree at any private
four-year university in the state. North Carolina Independent
Colleges and Universities (NCICU) and the North
Carolina Community College System (NCCCS) announced a new
grant-funded partnership to facilitate the successful transfer of
course credits for students moving from two-year colleges to
four-year private colleges and universities in the state.
The new initiative will leverage technology
from Acadeum to streamline the transfer process and
reduce credit loss, to replicate this technology in other states
through the generous support of a $1.3
million collective grant from the Teagle Foundation,
the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, ECMC
Foundation, the John M. Belk Endowment, and the
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In addition, Lumina
Foundation has provided complementary funding to ensure
the involvement of NCICU and NCCCS faculty and staff in the
development and implementation of this project.
"We are fortunate in North
Carolina to have both a comprehensive articulation agreement
for students to be able to transfer the first two years of college
courses and we also have discipline-specific agreements for those
students who know the major they wish pursue," said Dr.
Hope Williams, the president of
NCICU. "We are grateful to the funders of this project for helping
us use world-class technology to streamline the transfer process
with our partners from the North
Carolina community college system."
Nationally, 80% of entering community college
students indicate they want to earn a bachelor's degree or
higher, but only 31% of those students actually go
on to do so. For many students navigating the education landscape,
the transfer process may pose a challenge in finding the "right
fit" in terms of course credits accepted and majors offered at
four-year institutions.
"Continuing to enhance transfer opportunities for North Carolina's community college students is
critical to helping them continue their education and improve their
social and economic mobility," said Dr. Jeff Cox, president of the North Carolina
Community College System. "We are proud to partner with NCICU to
strengthen the transfer process to help our students achieve both
associate and baccalaureate degrees."
Any credit loss can set students back financially and
academically, creating unnecessary roadblocks to students
completing their intended credentials.
The new funding will help the state's community college students
within NCCCS and students at Louisburg
College in NCICU leverage a statewide transfer portal to be
powered by technology partner Acadeum. Working in collaboration
with other statewide transfer efforts, the project will build on
existing state policies and articulation agreements in North Carolina, and specifically address four
transfer frameworks:
- Associate degree transfer - facilitating four-year
universities' acceptance of general education or core credits
earned at community colleges in order for students to maximize
credit completion.
- Transfer pathways - enabling students to plan
major-specific credits earned at a community college towards their
degree at a four-year university to have the highest application of
their community college credits.
- Transfer guarantee - providing the option of admission
guarantees for community college transfer students who meet certain
criteria so that learners have a clear understanding of admission
requirements and confidence in acceptance of credit.
- Reverse transfer - helping students enrolled at
four-year universities complete their associate degree while
pursuing their bachelor's degree.
The project will leverage the Acadeum Course Share platform
(ACS), which allows participating colleges to offer available seats
in open courses and map course equivalencies to help credit count
at the home institution. Acadeum already works with multiple
institutions within North Carolina
and has a longstanding partnership with NCICU.
"Every student has their own unique education journey and should
be able to move between institutions and receive full credit for
their work," said Luis Rincon,
co-founder and chief strategy officer at Acadeum. "We are proud to
support the innovative collaboration of NCCCS and NCICU as we work
towards greater credit mobility through transfer
pathways."
To learn more about the transfer initiative, contact Dr.
Hope Williams at
williams@ncicu.org.
ABOUT THE NORTH CAROLINA
COMMUNITY COLLEGE SYSTEM
The North Carolina Community
College System is a network of 58 community colleges created to
improve the quality of life across North
Carolina by opening the door to opportunities that minimize
barriers to post-secondary education, maximize student success and
develop a globally and multi-culturally competent workforce. The 58
institutions located throughout the state provide easy access to
low-cost, high-quality educational opportunities and academic
support that focuses on increasing employability.
ABOUT NCICU
North Carolina Independent Colleges
& Universities (NCICU) supports, represents, and
advocates for North Carolina
independent higher education in the areas of state and federal
public policy and on education issues with the other sectors of
education in the state. It also raises funds through the
Independent College Fund of North
Carolina for student scholarships and enrichment
experiences, provides research and information to and about private
colleges and universities, conducts staff development opportunities
and coordinates collaborative programs. The presidents of the 36
colleges and universities that we represent make up our Board of
Directors.
ABOUT ACADEUM
Acadeum helps colleges and universities
expand academic resources that support student progress and
equitable access to workforce opportunities. Today, more than 500
higher education institutions are members of the Acadeum network to
offer in-demand courses and credentials they need to keep learners
on track, and bolster existing or offer new programs.Institutions
can improve retention and completion, and offer workforce-aligned
and stackable certifications, while also unlocking new revenue to
increase financial sustainability. To learn more about Acadeum,
please visit www.acadeum.com.
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SOURCE North Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities
(NCICU)