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Articulation & Transfer
Articulation and transfer practices and policies are agreements developed over time that allow students to move easily among higher education institutions. Transfer is the procedure by which credit hours a student earns at one institution are applied toward a degree at another institution. Articulation refers to the statewide policies and/or agreements among institutions to accept the transfer of credits.
| Core Principles for State-level Articulation Agreements |
A study of state-level policies in transfer and articulation by Jan Ignash and Barbara Townsend (2001) propose a set of core principles of good practice for state-level articulation:
- Associate- and baccalaureate-granting institutions should be equal partners in providing the first two years of baccalaureate degree programs.
- The receiving institution should treat transfer students comparably to students who start out at the college or university.
- Faculty from both the two- and four-year institutions should have primary responsibility for developing and maintaining articulation agreements.
- Statewide articulation agreements should accommodate those students who complete a significant block of coursework (such as general education requirements), but who transfer before completing an associate’s degree.
- Articulation agreements should be developed for specific program majors.
- A statewide evaluation system should monitor transfer students’ progress and completion.
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Traditionally, transfer agreements have consisted of bilateral articulation agreements negotiated between institutions on a course-by-course basis. In a typical articulation agreement between a community college and a four-year college or university, the partner institutions determine whether specific community college classes fulfill general education requirements and/or meet the standards for an academic major at the receiving institution. This requires the academic department of the four-year institution to make a judgment about the community college curriculum. Too often, community college transfer students find the four-year institution has different general education requirements or course prerequisites and that many courses they’ve taken at the community college won’t transfer.
Such barriers mean transfer students have to complete additional coursework, adding to their tuition costs and lengthening the time it takes for them to get a degree. The problem is exacerbated for the community college student who is unsure which four-year institution he or she plans to attend because requirements may vary widely among different four-year colleges and universities, even those in the same state.
Teacher Education Transfer and Articulation Issues
| Statistic: |
| Transcript studies on the institutions attended by the nation's current classroom teachers suggest that more than 50% attended a community college for at least part of their education.
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Transcript studies on the institutions attended by the nation’s current classroom teachers suggest that more than . In Illinois, the percentage of public school teachers who attended a two-year college exceeds 67%. But despite growing national recognition of the importance of community colleges in helping to prepare future teachers, barriers continue to exist to seamless articulation and transfer between teacher education programs at the two- and four-year levels.
| Interesting Facts: |
| There is a growing trend to negotiate teacher education articulation agreements at the state level to address teacher shortage issues.
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In a majority of states, formal teacher education articulation agreements still are negotiated between two- and four-year colleges and universities. In states with many community colleges and multiple four-year colleges or universities that offer a degree in education, statewide articulation agreements are difficult to attain, however. Conflicts surface when states attempt to make the transfer process risk free for students, while protecting the quality and autonomy of the academic departments at the receiving colleges or universities.
Most community colleges offer a minimal number of teacher preparation classes at the lower-division level, generally one or two preprofessional courses. A growing number of community college teacher education transfer programs, however, offer education foundations or other introductory courses. Those courses may include early field experiences or methods courses in the subject areas that have provided the traditional core of the university-based education program.
The fact that many community colleges offer both terminal and transfer credits in education complicates the issue. Some early childhood and paraprofessional programs at community colleges are designed as two-year certificate or terminal programs. These programs lead to an associate of applied science or sometimes an associate of science degree not intended for transfer into a baccalaureate-degree program. Graduates of these programs may be potential teacher education candidates at a four-year institution, but few upper-division colleges accept these courses.
To address these and other challenges, states have adopted a number of policies and practices to help smooth student transitions between state postsecondary institutions.
- Twenty-three states have developed statewide general education common core curricula. These curricula streamline articulation and help eliminate the confusion arising from differing institutional general education requirements. Under such agreements, a student who has completed an associate degree or a predetermined transfer block of courses at one institution within the state is considered to have fulfilled comparable lower-division general education requirements at the receiving college or university, even if requirements differ. Even in states with agreements on a transferable general education core, however, credits earned by students who transfer before completing the associate’s degree or the transfer block are subject to evaluation for transfer on a course-by-course basis.
- At least 17 states have adopted statewide common course numbering systems for academic courses with comparable content at two- and four-year institutions. This step reduces confusion over which courses may transfer and fulfill stated general education requirements. Common course numbering mechanisms significantly ease student transitions between institutions, but academic faculty typically resist the development of such models, seeing it as interference with traditions of academic freedom in the classroom.
- Two- and four-year colleges and universities continue to enter into bilateral articulation agreements regarding the transfer of an agreed-upon set of courses between specific academic departments and programs such as teacher education. These 2+2 partnerships typically are negotiated by academic discipline and identify which group of lower-division courses at the sending college will be accepted by the receiving institution to fulfill prerequisites of a specified degree program. Because such inter-institutional articulation agreements tend to be voluntary, they often are difficult to keep current in light of changing curriculum, accreditation requirements and faculty.
- Another related emerging practice that eases student movement involves joint admissions programs. In this arrangement, a community college student who ultimately intends to transfer is accepted concurrently at the community college and the partnering university. This step allows for improved advising and streamlined articulation between institutions upon transfer. While joint admissions programs are not yet widely available, longitudinal research suggests the practice is linked to improved student retention and baccalaureate completion.
- Evolving from traditional 2+2 programs are new targeted associate degree programs such as the associate of arts in teaching. These programs negotiate a single set of standards and courses in teacher education that are articulated among participating public and private two- and four-year institutions statewide. Developing voluntary consensus and support across academic institutions for these new degree programs is a time-consuming and challenging process, but often is considered preferable to a possible legislatively mandated solution to perceived problems of student movement between public institutions.
Additional information on articulation and transfer and the community college role in teacher education, including key issues, state examples, a policy context for these discussions and useful references can be found on the following subtopic pages:
Sources and Links
- This link from the web site of the American Association for Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO) contains links to state transfer and articulation web sites.
http://www.aacrao.org/pro_development/transfer.htm
- "State Policy and Community College-Baccalaureate Transfer" This report by Jane Wellman for the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education and the Institute for Higher Education Policy studies six state transfer and articulation policies in depth.
http://www.highereducation.org/reports/pa_transfers/
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