A typical bachelor's degree within the Utah System of Higher Education (USHE) requires 120 credit hours while a typical associate degree requires 60. If a student enrolls in 15 credit hours per semester, it would take them a total of eight semesters to complete 120 credit hours for a bachelor's degree and four semesters to complete 60 credit hours…

Policymakers' solutions to the problem of inequitable access to postsecondary institutions often focus on the financial barriers students face. However, other barriers are just as significant. Students may face barriers in the logistical aspect of applying to college. They may not have the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in college…

Nationally, reverse credit transfer is a practice of transfer credit. The reverse transfer program at the study site was implemented in 2013, but no information had been analyzed about the experiences of participating students. This study explored students' experiences of the reverse transfer program at the study site. The theory of student…

Early colleges can play a key role in bridging the gap between high school and higher education. In addition to allowing students to earn transferrable college credits for free, these schools boost students' chances of applying to and earning a college degree. This pertains especially to students who are traditionally underrepresented in higher…

Reverse transfer has been part of the United States post-secondary landscape for more than a decade, in the form of statewide, system-wide, regional, and institutional transfer agreements. Reverse transfer agreements, as structured in the US, allow a college student in an associate degree program who transfers to a university before completing the…

The transfer function is comprised of the characteristics of the system that supports student transfer among higher education institutions. Student transfer is complex; although students meet competencies and learning outcomes--measured as courses, credits, and grades represented on a transcript--it is difficult to translate the learning…

Staff and faculty have influential roles in the success of students transferring from associate's- to bachelor's-degree programs (vertical transfer students). Our survey compared the reported views on transfer of 607 staff and faculty with transfer responsibilities in associate's or bachelor's programs at 19 City University of New York colleges.…

This is the third brief summarizing results from the longitudinal analysis of the Transfer Opportunity Project (TOP). TOP, funded by a grant from the Institute for Education Sciences (IES), explores the possible factors contributing to the low percentage of community college students who go on to earn bachelor's degrees. The project uses a…

Purpose: The military medic/paramedic population has desired to seek further education in healthcare with a program that provides earned credit for their prior learning and experiences. The population specifically wants to become a registered nurse (RN). As the nursing shortage continues, these military medics and paramedics are an untapped…

Across the country, students are unwittingly leaving postsecondary credentials on the table without institutions awarding the associate degrees they have earned. A disproportionate number of those students are from populations that have been historically excluded from or overlooked in higher education, including Black, Latinx, Indigenous students,…

Dual credit programs are collaborations between secondary and postsecondary institutions that enable high school students to enroll in college courses and receive simultaneous academic or technical credit that counts toward high school and college completion. Nationally and in Kentucky, dual credit participation is on the rise. The total number of…

The New York City P-TECH Grades 9-14 (P-TECH 9-14) high school model involves a partnership between the New York City Department of Education, the City University of New York (CUNY), and employer partners that collaborate with the schools implementing it. The schools prepare students for both college and careers in science, technology,…

Reverse credit transfer (RCT) is an emerging policy designed to award associate's degrees to students who transfer from 2-year to 4-year colleges after transfer. The purpose of this study is to estimate the impact of RCT degree receipt on students' university and labor outcomes using data from Texas, where the legislature passed RCT policy in…

This report is an update to the Washington Student Achievement Council's (WSAC) 2019 Transfer Report (see ED606179). WSAC submits a biennial progress report to the Washington state legislature that examines transfer associate degree effectiveness over time. As recommended by the 2019 report, this update is the first step toward applying an equity…

In the classic game of "Chutes and Ladders," the player can see square 100--the finish line--but it is not easy to get there. The player may climb one ladder only to land on the wrong spot and be sent spiraling down a chute. In the game, players are aiming for the blue ribbon on square 100, but for students enrolling in college, the…