Many community colleges and universities are entering articulation agreements in order to allow students in high-demand fields to transfer from a two-year school to a bachelors degree-granting institution.
Under these agreements, community colleges are often able to offer the university's courses on their own campus, which allows students to stay closer to home while they take the next step in their education.
For example, Ashford University, which is an online school, recently entered an articulation agreement with Luna Community College (LCC). The New Mexico-based two-year school seeks to help students graduate from LCC with an associates degree and then seamlessly transfer to a bachelors degree program at the university.
School officials said that LCC offers programs such as nursing, business, technology, construction and law enforcement. Moreover, educators are now urging students to continue their education at Ashford after they graduate.
Officials added that the agreement allows LCC students to transfer up to 90 credits toward a bachelors degree at Ashford University.
"LCC is an educational fixture in New Mexico. With the opportunity for a four-year Ashford degree, their students can begin their advanced education locally and finish at a fine four-year school." said Mark K. Young, Ashford's director of Academic Partnerships.
HCCC and an online school agree to allow students to seamlessly transfer to bachelors degree program
In an effort to help New York students graduate with bachelors degrees, Herkimer County Community College and Empire State College, recently announced that they have reached a partnership to enable students to earn a four-year degree after graduating from HCCC's associates program, the Herkimer Telegram reports.
Officials told the news source that they have named the agreement the Pathways Transfer Program. This is designed to help HCCC students transition from classroom-based learning to the College's online format, which has a mix of independent studies and residencies.
“This agreement broadens access and opportunity for our students who want to continue their education and earn a bachelor’s degree,” Ann Murray, HCCC president, told the news source. “The Pathways Transfer Program is a wonderful program for students who need the flexibility to be able to manage their courses anytime, anywhere.”
The agreement allows HCCC students to transfer all the credits they have earned to a bachelor's degree program at Empire State College. Furthermore, graduates may take an additional 16 credits on the HCCC campus to help them transition to upper-division courses at the four-year school.
Demand for human services delivery professionals prompts transfer agreement between Georgia schools
However, other schools are targeting specific programs that are part of a articulation agreement between two institution, such as one deal between a Gainesville State College (GSC) and Georgia Perimeter College.
School officials recently inked a deal that will allow students from Georgia Perimeter College's sign language interpreting program to transfer to GSC, news station WDUN reports.
They added that the agreement will begin in the fall 2011 semester, through which participating students will earn both an associates degree from Georgia Perimeter College and a bachelors degree in human services delivery administration from GSC. The four-year program will aim to prepare students for careers with government agencies, social service providers, business and nonprofit organizations.
"This program addresses demand in the region to produce trained professionals to serve growing community needs," Jessica Ziembroski, assistant professor of sociology at GSC, told the news source. "In addition, it provides students with an excellent and affordable degree that has broad applicability in terms of career options."
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The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board recently announced that they are pushing state schools to offer more online degree programs, The Texas Tribune reports.
Officials told the news source that increasing the use of online classes may reduce higher education costs. Furthermore, Texas Higher Education Commissioner Raymund Paredes noted that it could result in a statewide digital university.
"We are seeing a backlash against the industrialization of education, where we just move kids through the assembly line," George Saltsman, executive director of Abilene Christian University's Adams Center for Teaching and Learning, told the news source. "Are they willing to make the change or are we going to stay with pedagogical models that have not changed since the 17th century?"
These proposals come after Governor Rick Perry recently challenged schools to use online learning in order to offer a $10,000 bachelor's degree.
According to a 2009 report from the Sloan Consortium, nearly 4.6 million students were enrolled in at least one online course in 2008.
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The last two years have seen the biggest college tuition hikes since records have been kept for those sorts of things. A study by The College Board shows that for the 2009-2010 school year tuition for U.S. public colleges rose on average 6.5%, with California leading the way with a 30% tuition hike. This was on top of a nationwide college tuition increase of 6.4% the previous year. Now a college student is expected to pay over $7,000 a year (on average) for the privilege of attending the public halls of higher learning. That’s going to be tough, since household incomes have only increased in the same time period by about a third as much. Unfortunately, this “new math” just might price most people out of going to college.
Or will it?
Just like solving a Rubik’s Cube seems impossible when it’s all scrambled up, there are ways to get around the rising cost of college if you think outside the box. Oh sure, there are the usual avenues; applying for grants, taking out college loans, working and going to school part time. However, there are also other options that people tend to overlook.
So on your next much-needed break from filling out all those college loan applications take a few minutes to read the following three ways you can cut corners on rising college tuition costs.
1) Consider Online College
Now most public and private colleges offer some form of online classes, and in many cases allow you to get your entire degree via the Internet. But because the curriculum, textbooks, supplies, and instructors for online classes are usually the same as those for campus classes, the tuition roughly ends up being similar for both. (Depending on the college you choose.) However, there is a substantial savings with online college in that you get to attend school from the comfort of your own home. This means you don’t have to pay for college housing, transportation, gas, or parking, all of which can up to thousands of dollars per year.
True, you do need to own a computer and pay for Internet access, and possibly buy some special software, but these are small costs compared to what you’d have to fork out to attend years of brick-and-mortar college. If you’re interested in comparing the cost of online versus campus college About.com has a great cost comparison sheet that allows you to do exactly that.
And then there’s the big question, is an online degree equal in value to a campus college degree? The answer is, it depends. Of course, if you want to be a brain surgeon then you’ll be hard pressed to find an accredited online medical school (although you could fulfill at least a few pre-med class requirements online). Plus, it might be kind of hard to student teach online if you’re an education major. However, for specialized careers in things like nursing, accounting, tourism, business, and even pre-law online degrees will get you jobs just as quickly as the old fashioned college degrees. Which brings me to my next point…
2) Consider Specialized Education
Regardless if you study online or on campus, there are many careers in technology, for example, that didn’t exist 10 years ago, such as social media, blogging, website design, electronic graphic arts, search engine optimization (SEO), IT specialist, the list goes on. Even though there are programs at universities for these areas of study, you can get just as valuable of a tech degree at a community college or vocational school – for a fraction of the cost. According to the College Board, community college tuition increased in the 2009-2010 school year by only 1.6%. Similarly culinary arts, graphic design, journalism, and business are all areas of specialized education that are available at smaller, less expensive schools (which are also possibly easier to get into).
3) Consider a Private School
According to the New York Times, tuition at private colleges has gone up 81% between 1993 and 2004, however, financial aid at those same schools has increased by 135% over those same years, even though financial assistance at public schools has actually gone down. Ironically, this means that although private colleges are more expensive than public universities, private schools tend to offer more scholarships. Therefore, your chances of getting a scholarship at a private school are far greater than if you applied to a public university. Granted, you need the grades and resume to get into a private school, but if you apply and ask for assistance, the worst they can do is say no. But you’ll never know if you can get that assistance if you don’t ask.
Rising costs in college tuition are a fact of life now. But that doesn’t mean you should give up your dream of going to college. And it doesn’t mean you have to start your career deep in college debt. However, it does mean you may have to compromise a little by looking at college as a practical matter. Yes, we’d all like to attend Harvard, Stanford, or NYU, but is paying off college debt the rest of your life really worth it?
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