HARTFORD — A study shows the University of Connecticut is rejecting about 20 percent of the transfer credits from students coming into the school from the state’s community college system.
John Mullane, a counselor at Gateway Community College who authored the study, says those students are forced to retake about a semester of classes, costing a total of about $3 million in additional tuition.
Have you had any issues with transferring credits from your local community college to a four-year university? Let us know if you’d like to talk about your experience. You can email us at webstaff@foxct.com.
Mullane said the problem could be solved with agreements between the schools that would allow students to know in advance whether a class would transfer.
He says there is a myth that some core courses offered at community colleges are not as rigorous as those at UConn and need to be repeated.
UConn spokeswoman Stephanie Reitz says the school is reviewing the study and released a statement Thursday afternoon:
UConn provides very clear, straightforward, and specific information up front to help our future students make course selections that complement a smooth transition from community colleges to our institution.
This includes detailed descriptions on our website of transfer credit guidelines, admission requirements and deadlines, and a specialized search function to help students learn which courses by specific Connecticut institutions are transferable.
Students who transfer from Connecticut’s community colleges are an integral part of the UConn fabric, and collectively they bring diversity, life experiences and new perspectives critical to a vibrant campus life.
In general, UConn grants credit for courses that are taken at regionally accredited, degree-granting colleges and universities; are comparable in content and quality to UConn’s courses; and are completed with a minimum grade of “C.”
We clearly specify on our website which courses transfer and which do not, and we have specific reasons for our decisions based on careful analyses of students’ needs and the courses required for certain majors.
We also ask all of our community colleges’ academic counselors to help students interested in transferring to UConn by advising them early in their course selection to maximize the allowable transfer credits. We believe in, and promote, a strong partnership with all of Connecticut’s higher education partners in promoting student success.
UConn is very proud of our Guaranteed Admissions Program (GAP), which attracts transfer students from the state’s community colleges and guarantees their admission to UConn if they earn a minimum 3.0 cumulative GPA and are awarded an associate degree in an approved academic program. This program also guarantees that the GAP student can begin his or her UConn studies in their junior year.
Last fall, our incoming students at Storrs and the regional campuses included 1,031 transfer students, of whom 342 were from Connecticut community colleges.
