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2+2 programs refer to joint admission agreements negotiated between community college and university partners. These programs allow students, after two years of community college study, to transfer directly into a specified university baccalaureate major to complete a degree program without loss of credit and often with guaranteed admission.

Studies Show: Students who participate in such joint admission programs are more likely to transfer and graduate with a bachelor’s degree.

In many states, 2+2 programs are negotiated on an institution-to-institution basis. In others, such agreements occur statewide. Typically, 2+2 teacher education partnerships result from negotiations between faculty. They differ from general transfer agreements by their emphasis on preparing students for a smooth transfer into a university-based education major. In addition, they include the articulation of prerequisite courses instead of traditional transfer agreements that encourage the completion of general education requirements or the associate’s degree, but are not linked directly to a particular major.

The associate of arts in teaching degree, first developed in Maryland to promote the statewide articulation of teacher education programs at two- and four-year institutions, is a natural extension of the 2+2 model. The teacher education partnership between Colorado’s two- and four-year institutions is another model. In New Jersey, community college students interested in ultimately transferring to Rutgers University apply and are admitted simultaneously to both institutions. Students are assigned an adviser from each to ensure a smooth transition once the lower-division coursework is completed.

Studies conducted by the University of Pennsylvania show that students who participate in such joint admission programs are more likely to transfer and graduate with a bachelor’s degree than students without access to these programs.