Help students get what they’ve earned
It’s not an uncommon scenario.
A student beginning her college career takes classes at a junior or community college before transferring to a four-year degree program at a public or private university. Then life happens.
The demands of work and family begin to take over. Schoolwork takes a back seat. Finances get tight and time becomes limited.
And before she realizes, she’s poured thousands of dollars and half-a-dozen years into a degree she will never complete.
But her time and efforts are not for naught, because the likelihood she’s earned enough credit for an associate’s degree is pretty good.
In fact, it’s estimated that as many as 270,000 students in Texas could be eligible to receive associate degrees for coursework they have completed.
A program called Reverse Transfer retroactively awards diplomas to students after they transfer to a four-year university.
Reverse Transfer is made possible by a law passed during the last legislative session. It authorizes Texas institutions of higher learning to share student information with the National Student Clearinghouse.
Students who transfer into a four-year institution sign a waiver allowing their new university to automatically share course and credit information with their previous institution.
Once certain credit requirements are met and verified, at no cost to the schools, through the National Student Clearinghouse, the junior or community college is able to award the degree.
According to a news release on its website, the University of Texas at Austin partnered with several other universities around the nation to develop, pilot and raise funds for the service, which seeks — putting it bluntly — to award credit where it’s due.
The simplicity of the program is genius: Give students what they’ve earned.
And the potential benefits seem endless.
There is no doubt a sense of accomplishment that accompanies the receipt of a college degree, but a diploma also pays additional dividends in higher salaries and better career opportunities.
That’s a win for students and win for Texas.
This story was originally published July 28, 2015 at 5:57 PM with the headline "Help students get what they’ve earned."