Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | November 21, 2016 | Worcester Business Journal 19 throughout the country, more and more private schools are offering transfer pathways, to make it easier for students to enter into a four-year degree program and to widen their appeal to the diverse community college student population. "There is attention being paid to try- ing to keep the costs to students lower. And so students don't have to repeat courses, and therefore incur tuition and time expenses to take that course again, when the agreement hasn't been reached ahead of time," said Terrel Rhodes, vice president of the office of quality, curric- ulum and assessment at the Association of American Colleges and Universities. Through the ABLE Initiative, students who complete their associate's degree at a partner institution can enroll as full- time commuters and pay $5,500 per semester – a steep discount from the school's regular $33,400 annual tuition rate. Students can also go in through the undergraduate adult program and take evening or online classes for $330 per credit – just short of $20,000 for their remaining 60 credits. This year, the Boston-based Edvance Foundation released a report titled "Strengthening the Transfer Pathway," which studied 414 private colleges in an effort to improve higher education by enhancing the path to a bachelor's degree for community college students. Although 80 percent of those students start school with plans to transfer and earn a bachelor's degree, just 25 per- cent of them will have transferred five years later, according to the study. Even within six years of transferring, just 17 percent of those students will earn a bachelor's degree. The biggest obstacle to transfers, according to the report, is the credit- transfer evaluation, and admissions standards vary widely. Colleges have transfer agreements in place, but there are inconsistencies in those agreements. The study called for a development of metrics that measure the progress of transfer participants from a young age until they get their jobs; early identifi- cation of promising students; stronger faculty involvement; and a network of mentors for two-year students, among other things, in order to strengthen transfer agreements. It's a good idea, and one that is increasing in popularity, said Rhodes, and evidence suggests they work. In its report, the Edvance Foundation highlighted a program called the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation's Community College Transfer Initiative, which provided funding to eight highly selective college and universities to help high-achieving, low-to-moderate income community college students transfer to their insti- tutions from 2006 to 2010. For the 1,100 students who partici- pated, the average grade point average was 3.11, and in many cases the stu- dents graduated at rates comparable to the graduation rates of the general stu- dent population. Reaching a broader audience Less selective private schools like Nichols, which according to the school has a 74-percent acceptance rate, are more inclined to be friendly towards transfer students from community colleges, the Edvance report found. ABLE has a 100 percent acceptance rate. Nichols enrollment has grown by 22 percent since 2012, said Boffi. The ABLE initiative is a way for the college to grow its commuter student popula- tion, and the population of its online and evening class learners, though they will eventually offer ABLE incentives to resident students as well. In many cases, CCRI or Mount Wachusett stu- dents can commute to Nichols within 30 minutes, he said. "Community colleges are a diverse set of students in terms of age range, economic background and the way they prefer to take courses. Some like to be full time and take classes during the day, some during the day and eve- ning," he said. "That's a beautiful diver- sity we want to tap into." Nichols articulation Nichols College in Dudley has finalized four articulation agreements in schools with three states, allowing students with grade point averages of 2.0 or higher to transfer to Nichols. School Location Source: Nichols College Mount Wachusett Community College Gardner Quinsigamond Community College Worcester Quinebaug Valley Community College Danielson, Conn. Community College of Rhode Island Warwick, R.I. W Nichols College in Dudley is the latest to jump on the trend of college articulation agreements, providing a seamless transfer pathway for students. P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y

• Cover