LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Arkansas education officials announced a plan Wednesday to award associate degrees to qualifying students who transferred from community colleges to universities but never got their diplomas.
Almost half of Arkansas students who transfer from two-year schools to four-year schools don’t complete enough credit hours for a bachelor’s degree. But many do amass enough credit for an associate degree.
Arkansas Higher Education Department Interim Director Shane Broadway said a $500,000 grant from the Kresge Foundation will enable the state to set up a system to evaluate student records from the state’s community colleges and performances after the students transferred to universities.
About 5,000 students transfer from community colleges to four-year schools each year in Arkansas. Some students start at community college to save money while taking lower-level classes before transferring to a university.
Organizers are going to start the program with 1,000 students who first enrolled in 2008. Once the system is in place, officials can work forward and backward with student records dating back into the 1990s.
The “Credit When It’s Due” program is part of a national effort that now includes about a dozen states. In Arkansas, it applies to the state’s 22 public community colleges and 11 state universities. Officials said it will take a couple of years to get the system up to speed.
Ed Franklin, president of the Arkansas Association of Two-Year Colleges said the average community college student is 28 years old and many non-traditional students have trouble completing their degrees because of the demands of work and family.
