Students can now obtain an undergraduate degree from the College of William & Mary or James Madison University at half price.
How?
Spend the first two years at a local community college.
Less heartache, half the price for that four-year degree.
More and more community college graduates--including alumni of Germanna, Northern Virginia and Rappahannock--are completing their undergraduate degrees at traditional four-year institutions.
The Virginia Community College System plans to triple the number of graduates who successfully transfer to four-year colleges and universities by 2009, according to materials on the system's Web site.
Over the past six years, the average transfer rate has hovered around 22 percent for all community college graduates. The rate nears 50 percent for those students who complete associate degrees.
"It seems like in the last year there's really been a lot of interest," said Jim Grigsby, lead counselor and chief transfer officer at Germanna Community College. "The momentum is just taking off."
That's because counselors and administrators at Virginia's community colleges have worked hard to secure guaranteed admissions agreements with a host of four-year schools over the past several years.
It works well for the students and the schools they transfer to.
"They see our transfer students as being high-quality transfer students," Grigsby said. "These are students who have made mature decisions about their education, are highly motivated and end up being very successful."
Germanna secured its first such agreement, with Old Dominion University, 10 years ago.
Recently, Bridgewater College joined up. In addition to ODU and Bridgewater, 11 other schools participate in the Guaranteed Admission Agreement program at Germanna (see list).
Germanna graduates who possess an associate degree and a 2.5 cumulative grade-point average are guaranteed acceptance at Bridgewater. As part of the agreement, Germanna students must complete a Bridgewater application and letter of intent, as well as graduate from Germanna with at least 45 credits.
Students who wish to apply to one of the 12 other schools must meet similar requirements.
"Each school has its own minimum grade-point average specified," Grigsby said. "There's a different flavor to each of these agreements."
JMU, for example, requires a cumulative grade-point average of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.
Rappahannock Community College also signed a guaranteed admissions agreement with a four-year institution just recently--the College of William & Mary.
Unlike Germanna, whose earliest guarantee dates back a decade, Rappahannock signed its first agreement with JMU in 2004, said spokesman Tom Martin.
Rappahannock has secured guarantees with 10 more four-year institutions since then.
However, four-year institutions aren't necessarily being altruistic. Legislation has been a motivator as well.
In February, the Virginia legislature passed a bill requiring four-year public institutions to develop additional articulation and transfer agreements with Virginia community colleges and provide additional opportunities for associate-degree graduates to be admitted and enrolled.
"What it boils down to is that the state is encouraging schools such as William & Mary to seek out students from two-year colleges who want to continue to four-year colleges," said Sharon Reed, the College of William & Mary's associate director of advising, "and to make it as easy as possible for the transition."
More than 173,000 students are attending a four-year college or university in Virginia this year.
Over the next six years, students will face a more competitive admissions process and rising tuition at Virginia schools. Enrollment at four-year institutions will continue to increase by the thousands during that period, according to a recent report commissioned by the State Council on Higher Education in Virginia.
Germanna's Grigsby understands the appeal of the guaranteed admissions program.
"Students feel like they can come here, and if they do well, they can transfer. Having that guarantee is very reassuring to them. And it's a much wiser way to invest educational dollars."
The State Council for Higher Education in Virginia provides this online transfer tool for community college students: schev.edu/Students/xfr.asp.
To reach MELISSA NIX:
Email: mnix@freelancestar.com
| Germanna has guaranteed admissions agreements with:
Ferrum College James Madison University Longwood University Regis University Saint Paul's College Strayer University Sweet Briar College University of Mary Washington's College University of Richmond's School of Continuing Studies Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Tech's School of Agriculture and Life Sciences Rappahannock has guaranteed admissions agreements with:Longwood University Mary Baldwin College Norfolk State University Old Dominion University Radford University University of Mary Washington's Professional Studies Program Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia State University Virginia Tech's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and College of Engineering The College of William & Mary |