NORTH CAROLINA COMMUNITY COLLEGE SYSTEM INKS NEW COMPREHENSIVE ARTICULATION AGREEMENT WITH UNC SYSTEM Community college students can seamlessly transfer

"Today the North Carolina Community College System and the University of North Carolina General Administration, which represents the 16 public university system, signed a new articulation agreement that will allow community college students to seamlessly transfer to one of North Carolina’s public institutions of higher learning. 

At Guilford Technical Community College from 2009 to 2012, 1,126 students have transferred from our college to members of the 16 public universities in the University of North Carolina system.  In fact, every UNC system campus in the state has at least one former GTCC student on its campus.  North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, the University of North Carolina Greensboro and the University of North Carolina Charlotte are the top three schools of choice for college transfer for GTCC students.

Nearly 24,000 students who began their studies at a NC community college are now undergraduates on UNC campuses, accounting for more than half (54 percent) of all UNC transfer students. Those numbers are expected to grow in the years ahead, and smoothing the transfer process for these students and providing a clearer, more
direct pathway to a baccalaureate degree are crucial to meeting North Carolinians’ educational goals and North Carolina’s future workforce needs.

Since 1997, a joint agreement (Comprehensive Articulation Agreement, or CAA) has outlined how specified student credit hours transfer between the two systems. While the guidelines worked well in 1997, they no longer meet student needs. The revised transfer agreement will save students and families both time and money, and will stretch
taxpayer-funded dollars. It is a win for both systems and students who are seeking a more direct cost-efficient path to career and educational success.

·      The revised CAA will go into effect for new college transfer students in the fall of 2014.  Focused on increasing student success, the revised agreement better defines transfer options for community college students and establishes distinct pathways to degree attainment. The revised CAA:
·      Establishes foundational courses that will transfer to all UNC campuses to meet general education requirements;
·      Improves transfer student success by requiring coursework that helps students map their academic pathway from community colleges to universities;
·      Encourages community college students to complete an AA or AS degree before transferring to a UNC campus by guaranteeing entry as juniors with full transfer credit.
Hundreds of faculty and administrators from North Carolina’s 58 community colleges and 16 UNC campuses weighed in on the design and development of this revised transfer agreement. A steering committee of faculty and chief academic officers from both systems crafted the final product.

Community colleges and UNC leadership have pledged ongoing evaluation to ensure that both students and the state are benefiting from the revised agreement. 

With this combined effort of North Carolina’s two public higher education systems, the outlook for student educational achievement in less time at a lower cost has never been brighter.

Guilford Technical Community College is the third largest of 58 institutions in the NC Community College System. GTCC serves more than 40,000 students annually from four major campuses and three specialized centers. Learn more at www.gtcc.edu."
Release provided by GTCC

No comments: