Kellogg Community College is one of 25 community colleges and 10 four-year colleges and universities in Michigan partnering in new transfer agreements that will make it easier for community college graduates to transfer to complete their bachelor’s degrees.
The four new transfer agreements are for fields of study in areas including applied business, general applied science, health care, and information technology.
KCC Interim Vice President for Instruction Tonya Forbes said the new agreements are a welcome boost to the College’s existing credential offerings, which include approximately 60 pre-professional transfer curricula, more than three dozen associate degree programs and nearly 30 certificate programs.
The new agreements will impact more than two dozen existing programs at KCC, Forbes said.
“These transfer agreements create incredible opportunities for students who complete applied associate degree programs that are not traditionally associated with transfer,” Forbes said. “Prior to the agreement, students wanting to earn a bachelor’s degree to advance in these fields would have had to start over – little to none of their associate degree or work experience would have been accepted for credit. Now, many of those students will be able to earn the bachelor’s degree after transfer in just two years. The impact to the workforce – both employees and employers – will be significant.”
The news was announced Monday by the Michigan Community College Association’s Michigan Center for Student Success to kick of National Transfer Student Week, which runs through Friday, Oct. 21.
Erica Lee Orians, executive director of the Michigan Center for Student Success, said the agreements collectively include 529 associate degree programs offered by community colleges across the state, as well as 44 bachelor’s degrees at four-year institutions.
Examples of associate degrees included at KCC are Accounting, Neurodiagnostic Technologist, Cybersecurity, and Early Childhood Education programs
“Employers increasingly see the need for their associate-degree-trained employees to return to college for a bachelor’s degree,” Orians said. “These agreements provide a simplified pathway with multiple university partners across the state to ensure that students can earn a bachelor’s degree.”
Participating four-year institutions will accept the full associate degrees from KCC and other participating colleges, meaning there will not be a course-by-course evaluation for transferability. Additionally, these four-year institutions will accept credit for prior learning that was previously applied to the associate degree, which is a benefit for students with life experience in their field.
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