Topic: Credit mobility
Blog Post
March 17, 2022
Evaluating the Transfer Pathways to the Liberal Arts Initiative
Strengthening transfer pathways between two-year and independent not-for-profit four-year institutions is one under-utilized way to increase transfer and bachelor’s degree completion. Independent colleges offer high graduation rates, flexible degree options, and personalized supports that can assist students looking to complete a four-year degree. Increasing transfer to these institutions at scale can be accomplished through state- or consortium-wide pathways that link all community colleges in a state to a critical number of independent four-year institutions. The…
Research Report
March 17, 2022
Playbook for Transfer Pathways to the Liberal Arts
How to Design and Implement Statewide Pathways from Community Colleges to Independent Colleges
Bachelor’s degree attainment for community college transfer students is one underutilized but essential pathway for reducing equity gaps in higher education. One way to achieve this at scale is through state-level initiatives dedicated to supporting transfer from community colleges to not-for-profit independent colleges. The Teagle Foundation and the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations’ Transfer Pathways to the Liberal Arts initiative aims to create such pathways in 20 states in the next five years. This playbook draws on the experience of grantees…
Blog Post
February 2, 2022
Bringing Credit Transfer into Focus
New Report on the Articulation of Transfer Credit at CUNY Project
When a student transfers from one college to another, the receiving college has to decide how to treat the credits that the student earned at prior institutions. While the specific process varies from place to place, in general, the institution has to make two interrelated decisions: (1) the course equivalency—how each course the student completed at another institution translates into courses in the catalog at the new institution, and (2) how the translated courses…
Research Report
February 2, 2022
Archiving Degree Audit Data to Measure and Reduce Lost Transfer Credit
Since June 2019, the Articulation of Credit Transfer project (ACT) has focused on streamlining the information, advising, and administrative processes concerning how credits from one City University of New York (CUNY) institution transfer to another CUNY institution. This work addresses a critical challenge at CUNY, and indeed, across American higher education. When students transfer from one college to another, they frequently are unable to count their previously earned credits toward degree requirements at their new institution, jeopardizing their ability to…
Past Event
January 10, 2022
The Chronicle’s Strategic-Leadership Program
For Department Chairs
Department chairs help make important curricular, personnel, and budget decisions and increasingly play a crucial role in innovations around student success, research, and technology. Yet, while the department chair is typically the first rung on the ladder to senior leadership in academia, many take on the position without the necessary training or mentorship. We at Ithaka S+R are thrilled once again to be working with The Chronicle of Higher Education and Dever…
Past Event
November 9, 2021
Solving Stranded Credits
James Ward at State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO) Annual Conference
On November 9, James Ward Solving will present on Stranded Credits at the State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO) Annual Conference. Abstract: In this session we hope to introduce the issue of stranded credits, or credits students cannot access due to unpaid balances that result in a transcript hold. We estimate roughly 6.6 million students across the country may currently have stranded credits. Three presenters will share information and new research on the scope of the problem and how it…
Issue Brief
July 21, 2021
Right in Your Backyard
Expanding Local Community College Transfer Pathways to High-Graduation-Rate Institutions
Each year, our country’s most selective four-year institutions invest significant resources to recruit talented high school students from across the country. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, admissions representatives traveled far and wide to convince these prospective students that the academic rigor, amenities, and opportunities at their institution are unparalleled. These students, mostly affluent and white, contemplate admission offers and consider moves to new locales to pursue their postsecondary plans. Yet, many of these selective institutions are overlooking a talented and diverse…
Blog Post
December 15, 2020
Ithaka S+R to Expand Transfer Improvement Efforts with CUNY
With Support from the Petrie Foundation, ACT Project Expands from Three to Seven CUNY Campuses
When students transfer from one college to another they frequently are unable to count their previously earned credits toward degree requirements at their new institutions, jeopardizing these students’ ability to earn their degrees. Nationally, 43 percent of credits are wasted during transfer, and students who lose that many credits are far less likely to graduate than students who are able to transfer most of their credits. While other…
Blog Post
July 14, 2020
Streamlining Transfer for CUNY Students in the Bronx
Approximately one-third of college students begin their postsecondary education in community colleges, yet over 80 percent of these students aspire to earn at least a bachelor’s degree. In order to achieve their goals, these students will need to transfer from their community colleges (which mostly offer associate’s degrees) to colleges that offer bachelor’s degrees. Yet, only 13 percent of students successfully transfer and earn a bachelor’s degree within six years of entering community college. Black and…
Blog Post
June 11, 2020
New Report Identifies Strategies for Independent Colleges Looking to Improve Transfer Pathways
Covid-19 has fundamentally altered the landscape of higher education, producing both challenges and opportunities for higher education institutions to better serve traditionally understudied student populations. Transfer students, specifically students that transfer from community colleges to four-year independent colleges, are one such population that has been historically underserved but whose needs will be all the more relevant during and after the pandemic. Enrollment shifts caused by the pandemic highlight the need for…
Research Report
June 11, 2020
Transfer Pathways to Independent Colleges
Every fall, an estimated one million American students begin their postsecondary education at community colleges. In fact, close to half of all postsecondary students start off at these institutions—especially students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. While most intend to eventually earn their bachelor’s degree, less than a third transfer-in to a four-year institution and only 13 percent actually earn their bachelor’s degree in six years. Transfer between two- and four-year institutions is a difficult pathway for students, leaving the well-documented benefits…
Research Report
June 11, 2020
Executive Summary: Transfer Pathways to Independent Colleges
COVID-19 and its aftermath highlight the urgency for innovation around community college to independent college transfer. The pandemic is expected to produce an increase in community college enrollment due to students’ inability to safely travel further from home and families’ financial situations in the current recession. Meanwhile, independent colleges facing declines in fall enrollment will need to turn to local transfer students as a source of much-needed tuition revenue. Yet, the path from community college to four-year institution is often…
Blog Post
June 5, 2020
A New Resource to Help CUNY Students Transfer Smarter
When students transfer from one college to another they frequently are unable to count their previously earned credits toward degree requirements at their new institution, jeopardizing these students’ ability to earn degrees at their new institutions. Nationally, 43 percent of credits are wasted during transfer, and students who lose that many credits are far less likely to graduate than students who are able to transfer most of their credits. The COVID-19 pandemic will exacerbate this problem. Due to…
Past Event
March 6, 2020
How to build an online global university in three weeks: webinar today
Kevin Guthrie and Catharine Bond Hill moderate this one-hour webinar on Duke Kunshan's Coronavirus Response
One month ago Duke Kunshan University made the decision to transition its courses online in response to the coronavirus outbreak in China. Online courses began just three weeks later. Teams in Kunshan and Durham worked together to quickly respond with technology and support for faculty and students. Now that other institutions worldwide are facing the prospect of campus closures and online transitions, Duke Kunshan and Duke are hosting this webinar and workshop to share some early reflections on lessons learned…
Past Event
January 27, 2020
Martin Kurzweil at the Non-Degree Credentials Research Network Meeting
On Monday, January 27, Martin Kurzweil be presenting at the Non-Degree Credentials Research Network Meeting at George Washington University in Washington DC. For more information, please see the NCRN website. …
Issue Brief
December 12, 2019
Expanding Pathways to College Enrollment and Degree Attainment
Policies and Reforms for a Diverse Population
For states to increase access to and attainment of higher education, they must implement policies and reforms that support learners who have not traditionally been well-served by higher education. By 2020, the United States is projected to have a shortage of five million workers with the adequate postsecondary education to fulfill workforce needs. States have a vested interest in and obligation to create multiple pathways to college enrollment and credential attainment that fit the needs of their diverse populations, not…
Blog Post
October 22, 2019
Driving Liberal Arts Transfer Pathways
It’s Time for Independent Colleges to Target Community College Students
Every fall, an estimated 1.1 million American students begin their postsecondary education at community colleges. While most (80 percent) intend to earn their bachelor’s degree, less than a third transfer to a four-year institution and only 13 percent actually earn their bachelor’s degree in six years. Transfer practices between two- and four-year institutions are not adequately serving students. What’s more, scalable policies designed…
Blog Post
July 18, 2019
Improving Articulation of Transfer Credit at CUNY
Although over 87 percent of new community college students at the City University of New York (CUNY) intend to transfer and complete at least a bachelor’s degree, only 11 percent do so within six years. Whether and how a student’s credits articulate during transfer can have significant consequences for these students’ educational trajectory. Students who transfer most or all of their credits are 2.5 times more likely to graduate compared to those who…
Past Event
April 29, 2019
Martin Kurzweil at the Inaugural Meeting of the Non-Degree Credentials Research Network
On April 29, Martin Kurzweil is taking part in the inaugural Non-Degree Credentials Research Network Meeting hosted by George Washington University’s Institute of Public Policy. The Non-Degree Credential Network (NCRN) is two year project funded through a grant from the Lumina Foundation and managed by researchers at the George Washington Institute of Public Policy (GWIPP). The NCRN is a small and by-invitation only group of leading researchers and key stakeholders (employers, policy makers and providers of employment, training and certification).
Blog Post
July 31, 2017
Putting the Courseware-in-Context (CWiC) Framework into Practice
Challenges of Implementing New Educational Technology at Scale
Earlier this year, Ithaka S+R was awarded a $2.46 million, multi-year grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to develop, test, and scale new models of entry-level math instruction in higher education. Working closely with the project partners including TPSE Math (Transforming Post-Secondary Education in Mathematics), Acrobatiq, William E. Kirwan Center for Academic Innovation, the Urban Institute, as well as the two institutions that were part of a pre-pilot study during the 2016-17 academic…