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When policymakers want to encourage articulated degree agreements such as 2+2 programs, significant barriers must be overcome, even when such a program is clearly in students’ interest. Traditions of local control and faculty autonomy in the academic discipline make it difficult for policy boards to exercise significant authority or influence individual academic departments.

States with strong state-level governing or coordinating authority are more likely to adopt policy frameworks that encourage statewide solutions and articulation arrangements. Those with a strong tradition of local control and institutional governance, however, often have no statewide body with the authority to encourage or implement such agreements.

In working toward a policy environment that encourages smooth student transitions from two- to four-year institutions, policymakers may want to consider the following questions:

• Do policies ensure transfer students are treated the same in terms of entrance requirements and/or prerequisites as students who begin their study at the four-year institution?
• What policy barriers or disincentives discourage collaboration between two- and four-year institutions?
• What incentives or rewards encourage faculty and institutions to collaborate on 2+2 agreements that support student transitions into an upper-division major?