Transfer Plans Bring Bachelor’s Degrees Closer to Home | Eastern NC Now

Press Release:

    WASHINGTON, N.C.     Transferring from one college to another used to be complicated and often cost students in time lost. Time lost translates to extra tuition paid. Then in 2016, North Carolina stepped in to make to ease the pain. The North Carolina Comprehensive Articulation Agreement (CAA) is a statewide agreement governing the transfer of credits between NC community colleges and NC public universities. Students can now see a baccalaureate degree plans or BDPs for every major in a transfer program. These plans make it easy for a student to start their bachelor's degree closer to home at a community college and provide families with a significant financial savings.

    "Every public university in North Carolina has them," explained Lisa Hill, dean of arts and sciences at Beaufort County Community College. "You can just click on the university of your choice and plan two years of community college classes. All courses listed are guaranteed to transfer and will save students time and money. It's that transparent now."

    This means that students will not have to retake classes because the community college and the university's disagree on what constitutes a science or business class. Even better, colleges now have a grievance policy so that if a BDP changes, a student can ask that a class be honored. This will help students who are following older BDPs to continue getting through a field of study efficiently.

    To help students who plan to transfer navigate their major, BCCC offers College Transfer Success (ACA 122) course to incoming students. Through the advising and academic success class, students in the arts and sciences choose three BDPs that interest them. This way, they can fall back on two if they struggle in one field or change their mind about career they want to pursue. Students in business and industry choose one BDP, write one resume and research the job market in their field. All students have to present this research to their peers.

    "Our students can still take any class they would like to, but we are making it very clear to them which classes they need in order to transfer seamlessly," Hill said. "They come here to save money and reduce the time they need to spend at a four-year university. We want to help them with that goal." Students attending community college have the opportunity to continue living with their family and work existing part-time jobs.

    "We want to make sure that when students go off to ECU, NC State or UNC-Wilmington, that they get through efficiently. We don't want them to get there and find out that they are going to have to go for an additional semester or two."

    The Baccalaureate Degree Plans mean that while students sign up for Associate in Arts or Associate in Science at BCCC, they are really working on a Bachelor of Science or Bachelor of Arts at Elizabeth City State University, NC State University, or any university of their choice all while learning in a smaller class that is closer to home.

• Contact: Attila Nemecz
•     Attila.Nemecz@beaufortccc.edu