Michigan Credit When It’s DueWebinar Series:

Student Eligibility & Degree Requirements

July 29, 2013

A Partnership between:

Overview of CWID Webinar Series Student eligibility and degree requirements

Monday, July 29th – 1:30 to 3:00pm

Communications with students – 8/26 Monday, August 26th – 1:30 to 3:00 pm

University/community college partnerships In-person meeting – Thursday, September 19th – 9:00

to 11:00am

Topics for today's webinar:1. Highlights from the recent OCCRL CWID webinar

2. MI CWID Survey Results on Student Eligibility

a) Criteria for eligibility including minimum GPA

b) Minimum number of CC credits required

c) Degree requirements

d) Frequency and timing of student searches

e) Other responses about eligibility

Highlights from the Baseline StudyWebinar on July 23, 2013

Office of Community College Research and Leadership (OCCRL) University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

OCCRL Baseline Study Research Questions

1. What was the state policy context and environment for transfer prior to CWID implementation?

2. What were the estimated number of Reverse Transfer-Eligible Students in the Baseline Cohort?

3. What were the characteristics of Baseline Reverse Transfer-Eligible Students?

4. What were the post-transfer outcomes of Baseline Reverse Transfer-Eligible Students?

OCCRL Baseline Study - Reverse Transfer-Related Legislative Policies

State Legislation Summary of Legislation Related to Reverse Transfer

Colorado Senate Bill 12-045 (2012) • Charges the Higher Education Commission to work with 2-year and 4-year boards to develop and coordinate a reverse transfer process• Requires developing a "notification process" for students who accumulate 70 credits at university and who met 2-year residency requirement• Requires implementation by 2013-14 year• Defines key contents of the notification process

Florida Florida Statue 1007.25  (Senate Bill 478 passed in 1971)

• Allows students at state universities to request AA degree from the university if student completes the minimum degree requirements

Maryland House Bill 833 (2013)College Readiness and Completion Act of 2013

• Requires MHEC to work with public institutions to develop statewide reverse transfer agreement

OCCRL Baseline Study - Reverse Transfer-Related Legislative Policies (cont.)

State Legislation Summary of Legislation Related to Reverse Transfer

Michigan House Bill 5372 (H-1) CR-1Higher Education Budget FY12-13

• Charges committee to develop a reverse transfer process• Requires universities to participate in reverse transfer agreements with at least 3 community colleges in order to receive performance funding

Missouri House Bill 1042 (2012) • Charges the coordinating board to develop a policy to foster reverse transfer for students who have met enough hours from a public higher education institution that offers associate degrees and one public four-year institution

Oregon HB 3521 (2011) - "Transfer Students Bill of Rights and Responsibilities"

• Charges agencies to create standards for a reverse transfer process

OCCRL Baseline Study - Quantitative Data

StateNumber of Reverse Transfer-Eligible

StudentsArkansas 1,057Colorado 1,739Florida 2,077Hawaii 1,078Maryland 3,770Michigan 3,148Missouri 2,787New York 3,273*North Carolina 1,223Ohio 3,032Oregon 2,664Total 25,848*Number excludes approximately 3,400 students with “unreliable credit records”, meaning there was no way of knowing how many credits were received prior to transfer in Fall 2008. Recent dataset provided by NY not yet analyzed.

What were the characteristics of Baseline Reverse Transfer-Eligible Students?

47%53%

Gender

Male Female

6% 10%

6%

67%

11%

Race/Ethnicity

Asian or Pacific Islander Black Hispanic White

Missing/Other

Baseline Reverse Transfer-Eligible Students: n=~25,848

What were the characteristics of Baseline Reverse Transfer-Eligible Students?

74%

26%

Age

18 to 24 25 and Above

24%

49%

28%

Fall 2008 Pell Recipient

Yes No Missing

Baseline Reverse Transfer-Eligible Students: n=~25,848

What were the post-transfer outcomes of Baseline Reverse Transfer-Eligible Students?

53%33%

14%

Completed Bachelor's or Higher

Did Not Complete Bachelor's

Did Not Complete Bachelor's, Enrolled at Receiving Institution Spring 2012

~47% Did NOT Complete Bachelor’s

Baseline Reverse Transfer-Eligible Students: n=~25,848

What were the post-transfer outcomes of Baseline Reverse Transfer-Eligible Students?

48%

3%

49%

Did Not Complete Bachelor's Completed Associate Before Bachelor'sCompleted Bachelor's Only

Baseline Reverse Transfer-Eligible Students: n=24,995

OCCRL Michigan Findings 5 universities: EMU, FSU, GVSU, OU, and WMU Fall 2008 student transfers who had credits accepted at

the 4-year institution from a Michigan CC but no AA/AS or higher prior to transfer

5,354 transferred from CC to 4-year 3,320 transferred without an associates degree 3,148 met residency requirement (earned >=15 credits) 83% are 18 to 24 years old 72% Pell grant recipients 82% Full-time students

OCCRL Michigan Findings (cont.)Number of credits earned prior to transfer:

<= 15: 1915.01-30: 50730.01-45: 68745.01-60: 808>60: 1,127

OCCRL Michigan Findings (cont.) Highest degree earned at receiving institution (n = 3,148): Bachelor’s or higher: 1,499 Associate: 48 Certificate: 2 No Degree: 1,599

Highest degree earned at any institution (n = 3,148): Bachelor’s or higher: 1,511 Associate: 97 Certificate: 12 No Degree: 1,528

Questions?

Michigan Reverse Transfer Institutional Survey Responses on Student Eligibility

Criteria for eligibility 19 colleges and 12 universities use a minimum number of

credits earned at a community college 14 colleges and 9 universities use a minimum number of

credits earned at the university 1 college and 1 university use the start date at the

community college 9 universities will consider students who have attended

multiple CCs and 4 will not 10 universities require students to complete a reverse

transfer form

Criteria for eligibility (cont.)17 colleges and 6 universities require a minimum GPA for

credits to transfer (all stated that it was 2.0 or higher except one university that requires a 3.0)

Other eligibility criteria mentioned include: General agreement in place for universities to send names of former students Has not already earned a degree at the community college Enrolled in undergraduate courses at the university In good academic standing at the university Must be an active student or have been an active student in the last two

years at the university Does not have an outstanding financial obligation at the university Credits being reverse transferred must meet the degree requirements

Criteria for eligibility (cont.)

Key questions:

1. What are the most important criteria for eligibility?

2. Should Michigan establish common criteria?

Minimum CC credits required There is significant variation under the agreements – 12, 15, 17, 18, 24,

25, 30, 32, 35, and 45. Rationales for these credit thresholds include:

Institutional residency policy for any student to receive a degree Higher Learning Commission requirement at the home institution Bulk of work completed before transfer Represents a percentage of credit toward an associate degree (50%,

60%, and 75% mentioned) If we are going to issue a credential, we don't want to do it based on

all transfer credits Basic point of demarcation Encourage students who plan to transfer to earn the current

MACRAO stamp

Changes to HLC Assumed PracticesNew Language for Assumed Practice B. 1. b.:

The institution maintains structures or practices that ensure the coherence and quality of the programs for which it awards a degree. Typically institutions will require that at minimum 30 of the 120 credits earned for the bachelor’s degree and 15 of the 60 credits for the associate’s degree be credits earned at the institution itself, through arrangements with other accredited institutions, or through contractual relationships approved by the Commission. Any variation from the typical minima must be explained and justified.

Minimum CC credits required (cont.)

Key questions:1. What are the implications of the HLC change for the

minimum credits required by CCs?

2. What are the impediments for establishing a common requirement ?

Degree requirements There is variation in the degrees the

agreements apply to ranging from only AA/AS to all degrees.

No colleges are waiving any degree requirements (three mentioned waiving the graduation fee)

3 colleges are planning to automatically award the associates degree, 6 are considering, and 15 will not.

Degree requirements (cont.)Key questions:

1. Why limit the degrees eligible for reverse transfer to the AA/AS?

2. For those awarding the associate’s automatically what is your rationale and process for doing so?

Frequency & timing of student searches

7 universities search once each term, 2 search once a year, 1 searches twice each year, 1 three times per year (but not based on terms), 1 was unsure, and 1 said it is defined by the community college

7 universities run searches in Sept., 5 each in April and May, 3 in Nov., and 1 each in Feb. and June

Frequency & timing of student searches

Key questions:1. What is the rationale for the timing and

frequency of these searches?

2. What happens to students who express interest in reverse transfer but are not yet eligible? Are they included in future searches?

Other responses about eligibilityA college encourages students to apply for graduation prior

to leaving so they can identify which credits are needed to complete the degree

A college indicated that one form was used that encompasses the FERPA release, graduation application, etc. to makes it easier for students

A university indicated that their Transfer Student Application will contain a statement that the student can check if they do not want to participate in reverse transfer. This will allow them to run the process and review for eligible students and send the information to the community colleges

Next Steps Circulate slides/recording of today’s student webinar

(as well as OCCRL materials Communications with Students Webinar – 8/26

Monday, August 26th – 1:30 to 3:00 pm

University/community College Partnerships In-Person Meeting (prior to the 2013 Student Success Summit)

Thursday, September 19th – 9:00 to 11:00am in Lansing

Chris BaldwinMichigan Center for Student Successcbaldwin@mcca.org

Patty Farrell-ColePresidents Council, State Universities of Michigan pfarrell@pcsum.org