Associates Degrees: Is this true?

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by mattbrent, Jun 18, 2009.

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  1. mattbrent

    mattbrent Well-Known Member

    I never earned an associates degree when I was going for my BA. I simply went the traditional route by going to a B&M school and earning a BA after 4 years. However, in trying to help my students, I'm seeking additional information on Associates Degrees.

    I read (or was told) that if you earn an Associates Degree and then go on for a Bachelors, the college or university has to recognize the Associates and count those credits towards the Bachelors. Is this true?

    I am about to start teaching dual enrollment courses, and many of my students are wondering if their colleges are going to accept the credits for the course. The local community college is providing the credits, and for some reason, some of the colleges in Virginia are not accepting them. However, if these kids can earn an associates degree while still in high school (we had a couple do that this year) then perhaps the credits won't be "wasted" IF the receiving school has to accept the Associates degree.

    If our students completed every Dual Enrollment course we currently offer, they'd walk out with about 34 credits. These are from US History, US Government, English Comp, Biology and Pre-Calculus. That leaves them about 26 credits away from an Associates. Before I start pushing the Associates degree, however, I'd like to know if it is indeed true that other schools have to accept it.

    Thanks,
    Matt
     
  2. -kevin-

    -kevin- Resident Redneck

    Matt,

    Most associates degrees are very program specific. Look for a program that has existing articulation agreements with upper level schools otherwise some credits may be unaccepted or misssing from the plan of study to meet the lower level requirements for a bachelors. There is never a requirement that an upper division school to accept the associates degree as fulfilling lower level requirements except where articulation agreements exist.

    You might have better success if both the associates awarding school and the upper level school have the same accreditor.

    See if this info helps:

    Virginia Transfer List
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jun 18, 2009
  3. mattbrent

    mattbrent Well-Known Member

    This is the problem my students are running into. They're getting credit from Rappahannock Community College (RCC), which is accredited by SACS. Most of our kids go to school in Virginia, which is also accredited by SACS.

    To make it more interesting RCC has agreements with a huge chunk of 4 year schools in Virginia in which a student can do 2 years at RCC and then be guaranteed admission to one of the 4 year schools where they can finish their BA/BS. If a student does this, all of their credits transfer, and I'd assume after two years at RCC, they'd walk out with an associates degree. The four year schools accept the credits this way, but if a student just takes classes at RCC and then tries to transfer them to a four year school later on, the four year school can deny the transfer credits. I don't quite get the politics of this, but I see it happen every year.

    I just want to find out the best way to ensure my students get credit for the class they're taking. I completely understand what my students are going through. After all, why would they want to work so hard to get 30+ college credits while still in high school only to be told that those credits mean squat and that they have to take all of those classes over again?

    I thought that if they could get an associates degree the other schools would have to accept it, but from what you're saying they don't. I guess I'm pressed to find another solution.

    -Matt
     
  4. -kevin-

    -kevin- Resident Redneck

    Matt,

    RCC states the following for the Associate of Arts and Sciences Transfer Degree:

    "PROGRAM REQUIREMENT

    This curriculum should provide sufficient flexibility to meet lower division requirement for a variety of majors at a variety of colleges and universities and provide students success in transferring to obtain a baccalaureate degree. It is extremely important for students to work closely with their advisors to assure their successful transfer."

    The other associates degrees are very program specific. So as long as they are completing the transfer degree they should have a better opportunity.

    It might be a long shot but if the students know which colleges they hope to transfer to, make a call and perhaps an articulation agreement (or pre- approval) could be developed.

    In addition, you could call SACS and raise a general question about transfer among institutions under its auspices.
     
  5. AV8R

    AV8R Active Member

    I also live in Virginia. Most of the community colleges have agreements with 4-year schools on course acceptance. You could probably find this information by going to the web sites of the local community colleges and see what arrangements have been made.
     
  6. mattbrent

    mattbrent Well-Known Member

    This is what I'm saying about RCC. They have agreements which allow students to do 2 years at RCC and be guaranteed admission to certain 4 year schools. However, those same four year schools DO NOT always accept coursework taken at RCC. We've had some of our high school students obtain credit hours from RCC and then move on to four year universities like Virginia Tech that will not accept any of the credits from RCC.

    -Matt
     
  7. me again

    me again Well-Known Member

    The rules can vary from state-to-state. What state are you in?

    Florida has the Gordon Rule: if a student gets an AA degree at a community college, then he automatically fulfills all the basic lower division educational requirements and he may go directly into the last two years at a 4-year university. The AS doesn't meet the Gordon Rule requirements. California has a similar system.
     
  8. -kevin-

    -kevin- Resident Redneck

    Matt,

    follow the link I provided above. Virginia Tech signed an agreement in 2007 but read the agreement as it provides the details, GPA etc...

    Here's a separate link to the VT agreement.

    GUARANTEED ADMISSION AGREEMENT VIRGINIA COMMUNITY COLLEGE SYSTEM AND
    VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE AND STATE UNIVERSITY
     
  9. mattbrent

    mattbrent Well-Known Member

    Thanks Kevin. I know about the guaranteed admissions stuff. I know that students can earn an associates degree and those credits will transfer. I just find it interesting that those same credits WON'T transfer to schools like Virginia Tech if an associates degree is not earned.

    This all goes back to the students at my high school who are earning college credits through dual enrollment courses. If they don't earn enough to get an associates degree, which most won't, the credits could potentially be wasted. I think that's just silly.

    -Matt
     
  10. cookderosa

    cookderosa Resident Chef

    >>

    Matt, it's because the credit has to be a complete package- the 4 year college accepts the PACKAGED degree if they have an Articulation Agreement. When you bring in loose credits, they are individually evaluated. Not the same thing. I might want to add that articulation agreements are often guaranteed transfer- at 2 of our local CCs (and mine) it's a 100% money back guarantee.
     
  11. japhy4529

    japhy4529 House Bassist


    Uh, he is located in Virginia. This was only mentioned about a half dozen times. :D
     
  12. japhy4529

    japhy4529 House Bassist

    This is similar to my school, Bellevue University, except that in this case there is no articulation agreement with another school. Rather, Bellevue will accept a completed Associates degree from any regionally accredited school, as meeting the general requirements for any of their Bachelor degrees. However, if you enter with 60 credits, but no associates, then they will evaluate your credits and determine where (or if) there are any gaps between the credits that you are transfering in and their gen. ed. requirements. It's quite odd, but that's the story.

    For example, I've been with Bellevue for four months now. When I enrolled, I had completed all the course requirements for my A.S. with Excelsior, but the degree had not yet been awarded. So, my "unofficial evaluation" from Bellevue indicates that I need to take a couple of gen ed courses. However, now that I have the Excelsior transcript indicating that I've completed my A.S., I will no longer need to take those gen. ed courses through Bellevue. Weird, huh?

    As an aside, Bellevue will accept FEMA credits in direct transfer (no need to have them "laundered" through Frederick CC). I'm definitely going to take advantage of this for my remaining electives (around 20 credits).
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jun 19, 2009
  13. mattbrent

    mattbrent Well-Known Member

    Thanks folks! I appreciate everyone's insight into all of this. I know schools can pull all kinds of shenanigans, and I just want to try to ensure that my students get credit for the work they do. I was fortunate that when I was in high school and taking dual enrollment courses, CNU took everything. Unfortunately, as I've mentioned, not all Virginia schools are this nice. I could only imagine how disheartening it would be for a student to work so hard to complete dual enrollment coursework only to find out his or her school won't accept the credits.

    I like the associates idea. Unfortunately, I don't know how I can have these kids complete the additional credits needed for the associates. I'm sure they could do CLEPs and such, but that would probably take additional time. UNLESS, of course, they've learned enough from their basic high school courses to pass the CLEPs. And that even begs the question of how many CLEP exams RCC will take. I couldn't find an exact number in the catalog, or find a specific statement of how much transfer credit RCC will accept towards their Associates degree.

    I'll keep plugging along. I'm sure I'll find an answer, and if anyone can offer suggestions, I'll gladly take them.

    With school guidance counselors being pulled away from college and career counseling and pushed towards state assessment testing instead, someone has to be left standing to go to bat for these kids. I know it's not really my job, but someone's gotta do it, and the group I'll have this coming year are really important to me since it'll be the third year I've had them.

    -Matt
     
  14. scaredrain

    scaredrain Member

    In NC the community colleges have articulation agreements with the 4 year universities to accept transfer credits. I personally benefited from this program, except I went from a public community college to a private 4 year university.

    In my school district we are encouraging high school students to take advantage of the many online programs in the state of NC, such as Learn and Earn, NC Virtual Public Schools, and UNC G's I School. These programs allow students to earn college credit for free and high school credits at the same time. We are also starting an early college high school in my district, so students can graduate and earn an associates degree if they stay 1 extra year at this particular school, as well as their high school diplomas. All in all I would say you are helping your students out tremendously.
     

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