The potential for community college students and adults with some college credit to obtain a future degree is limited by a higher education system that has not fully embraced the many pathways today’s learners take to complete a degree, according to a new white paper from the Center for Higher Education Policy and Practice’s (CHEPP).
Center for Higher Education Policy and Practice has released white paper examining transfer credit pathways to student success.Center for Higher Education Policy and Practice
The paper cited a 2022 report — “A Dream Derailed? Investigating the Impact of College Closures on Student Outcomes” by the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association — which explained how Southern New Hampshire University advisors noted that learners who attended now-closed schools may have to navigate a complex process and the varying capacity of state agencies to obtain the transcript; it has a disproportionate impact on learners of color and low-income learners, who enrolled at higher rates.
The CHEPP paper concluded that the transfer of credit should be a key strategy to improving economic security and social mobility because it reduces costs for non-linear pathways to a degree, especially for historically underrepresented and underserved learners. Non-linear pathways should be more affordable and more widely accessible.
It stated that, by aligning policies with students’ interests, institutions supporting student success through broader acceptance of transfer credit and other practices aimed at reducing costs to students are reaping the benefits of greater enrollment, retention, and completion.
