150 West State Street, Trenton NJ Phone (609) Fax: (609)

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1 NEW JERSEY Assciatin f State Clleges and Universities 150 West State Street, Trentn NJ Phne (609) Fax: (609) Assembly Higher Educatin Cmmittee September 18, 2014 Assembly Bill N Thank yu, Madam Chair, fr the pprtunity t testify n this bill, which wuld require each public institutin f higher educatin t establish and enter int a statewide reverse-transfer agreement under which at least 30 credits that a student earns at a fur-year public cllege r university tward a baccalaureate degree wuld be transferrable t any cunty cllege fr credit tward an assciate s degree. Several state clleges and universities already have reverse-transfer agreements in place. A cmplete list f these agreements is attached. As yu knw, under the New Jersey Cmprehensive Statewide Transfer Agreement, the senir public clleges and universities essentially already have traditinal transfer agreements with every cunty cllege in New Jersey. Mrever, under the leadership f Thmas Edisn State Cllege, the New Jersey Prir Learning Assessment Netwrk (NJPLAN) was established n July 17. Under NJPLAN, students can earn cllege credits by taking tests r preparing prtflis f their wrk. Thmas Edisn State Cllege, with its histric expertise and pineering wrk in prir learning assessment, will serve as the anchr fr the NJPLAN cnsrtium, which includes New Jersey City University, Rwan University, NJIT, and Essex Cunty Cllege. Amng ther benefits, NJPLAN will prmte the use f established prgram methds at Thmas Edisn State Cllege, thereby eliminating the need fr ther institutins t expend their wn time and limited resurces n such initiatives. Research indicates that students wh earn PLA credit are mre likely t cmplete their degrees, cmplete their degrees in a timely manner, and take mre curses with their hme institutin. With regard t the specifics f the bill, we have significant cncerns with Sectin 2, which wuld require the Secretary f Higher Educatin and each public institutin f higher educatin t develp and implement incentives fr students t btain an assciate s degree prir t enrlling in a fur-year public institutin f higher educatin. Studies indicate that students wh are capable f starting at a fur-year institutin but enrll instead in a tw-year institutin are less likely t graduate. This phenmenn is knwn is undermatching. Undermatching ccurs when students enrll at less-selective clleges r n cllege at all than their academic qualificatins, such as grades and test scres, suggest they culd have attended. As a result f undermatching, academically qualified students attend clleges that d nt match their abilities, and therefre d nt prvide levels f rigr that will challenge them. Undermatching has a greater negative influence n graduatin rates than previusly thught, accrding t ne prminent study, referenced belw (Bwen, McPhersn, Chings, 2009). This study als suggests that undermatching affects a disprprtinate number f minrity and lw sciecnmic-status students. Identifying students wh are mst at risk fr undermatching and The Cllege f New Jersey New Jersey City University Rwan University Kean University Ramap Cllege f New Jersey Thmas Edisn State Cllege Mntclair State University Richard Stcktn Cllege f New Jersey William Patersn University

2 encuraging them t apply t schls that are the best fit fr them culd lead t better graduatin rates. Reference: William G. Bwen, Matthew M. Chings, & Michael S. McPhersn (2009), Crssing the Finish Line: Cmpleting Cllege at America's Public Universities (Princetn, NJ: Princetn University Press). Other prminent study: Carline M. Hxby, Christpher Avery (2012, December). The Missing "One-Offs": The Hidden Supply f High-Achieving, Lw Incme Students. Natinal Bureau f Ecnmic Research (NBER) Wrking Paper N

3 The Cllege f New Jersey Reverse-Transfer Agreements and Other Innvative Partnerships with Cunty Clleges TCNJ have articulatin agreements with Mercer Cunty Cmmunity Cllege and Burlingtn Cunty Cmmunity Cllege. There are departmental agreements as well. Fr example, Engineering has an articulatin agreement with Bergen Cunty Cmmunity Cllege. Kean University Kean University and Ocean Cunty Cllege s partnership, established in 2005 and called Kean Ocean, allws students cmpleting their assciate s degree t cntinue their studies with a Kean bachelr s degree with Kean curses ffered n the OCC campus. The prgram currently ffers 28 baccalaureate degree prgrams and five master's degree prgrams, and it launched a Ph. D. in Nursing Educatinal Leadership in the Fall f Mre than 1,500 students are enrlled in the Kean Ocean prgrams. New Jersey City University NJCU and Hudsn Cunty Cmmunity Cllege (HCCC) signed a reverse transfer articulatin agreement in July 2013 t increase educatinal pprtunity fr students in New Jersey. The agreement assists students wh earned at least 30 credits twards an assciate s degree at HCCC, but did nt cmplete sufficient credits t earn an assciate s degree prir t enrlling in NJCU. The agreement is designed t allw these students t transfer credits earned at NJCU t HCCC, prviding them with an pprtunity t cmplete their assciate s degree. In additin t expanding dual admissin agreements with Hudsn Cunty Cmmunity Cllege (HCCC) in the areas f Accunting, Bilgy, Chemistry, Gescience, Management, Mathematics, Nursing and Physics, NJCU has an n-site advisr lcated at HCCC t facilitate advisement and seamless transfer. NJCU is partnering with Hudsn Cunty Cmmunity Cllege in a cmbined effrt t bring greater efficiencies and results fr Hispanic students wh will attend bth institutins and cmplete bth assciate s and bachelr s degrees. NJCU received $1.5 millin as a partner in Picking Up the Pace: Ensuring Hispanic Degree Cmpletin prvided thrugh a U.S. Department f Educatin Title V Cperative Grant. NJCU is in the third year f a five-year plan that will enhance science, technlgy, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) prgrams and blster articulatin initiatives with nearby cmmunity clleges, allwing students hlding assciate-level degrees t cmplete baccalaureate degrees in STEM prgrams at NJCU. Thanks t a $9-millin Title V Grant frm the U.S. Department f Educatin, NJCU is fcusing n twin prgram gals: increasing the number f science majrs and imprving the persistence, retentin, and graduatin rates f science majrs at the University. NJCU has hired an n-site transfer cunselr at Hudsn Cmmunity Cllege t facilitate seamless transfers int NJCU s STEM prgram; hired a directr f develpmental math t fcus n gatekeeper math curses at NJCU; increased the number f math credit-based sessins in the Supplemental Instructin prgram; purchased sftware fr lecture capturing fr nline psting and increased multimedia technlgy in the classrm; ffered intensive faculty 3

4 develpment sessins n pedaggy, technlgy, and methds f getting students t succeed in STEM. NJCU s respnse t public demands fr new educatinal prgrams is exemplified by its partnership with Brkdale Cmmunity Cllege, where NJCU became a funding member f the New Jersey Castal Cmmuniversity at Wall. NJCU jined with fur ther clleges and universities t frm Cmmuniversity at Wall, which enables students in suthern Mnmuth Cunty t earn bachelr s and master s degrees, and graduate certificates, an pprtunity which was previusly unavailable lcally t central New Jersey residents. NJCU s Cllege f Prfessinal Studies ffers degree prgrams at the Wall campus in business, criminal justice, fire science, natinal security studies, nursing, and a graduate certificate in schl nursing. Enrllment in NJCU at Wall grew frm 114 students in fall 2004 t 625 students in fall Mre than 150 students have graduated frm NJCU at Wall in six years. Ramap Cllege f New Jersey Ramap Cllege has wrked with Bergen Cmmunity Cllege t identify students wh are graduating in the STEM fields and is creating specific guiding dcuments t help establish a seamless fur year plan fr students wh begin at Bergen with the intentin f ultimately enrlling at Ramap t cmplete their fur year science degrees. Richard Stcktn Cllege f New Jersey Articulatin Agreements. Stcktn seeks and maintains a variety f transfer articulatin agreements with ther institutins f higher educatin. These agreements are with the New Jersey cmmunity clleges, as well as bth in- and ut-f-state fur-year institutins. In additin t the New Jersey Cmprehensive Statewide Transfer Agreement, the Cllege has entered int separate agreements with several f the lcal cmmunity clleges in effrts t fster a smther transitin frm thse institutins that send Stcktn the bulk f its transfer students in rder fr them t cmplete their Bachelr's degrees mst efficiently. Dual Degree Prgrams (DDP). Qualified graduates f Glucester Cunty Cllege (GCC) are guaranteed admissin int Stcktn s undergraduate degree prgram based n a Dual Degree agreement signed by bth institutins in The applicatin fee t Stcktn will be waived fr transfer students. GCC students wh transfer t Stcktn befre cmpleting an A.A. r an A.S. may als participate in the DDP Prgram in a reverse transfer arrangement. The prgram requires students t meet the academic residency requirement at GCC by earning a minimum f 32 apprved credits there. After earning the rest f their required credits at Stcktn, students wuld be granted their assciates degrees frm GCC. Stcktn als has a Dual Degree agreement with Atlantic Cape Cmmunity Cllege and a similar guaranteed admissins agreement signed with Burlingtn Cunty Cllege in The cllege has a variety f ther Dual Degree prgrams, including thse with: 13 area high schls, allwing students t take cllege curses while still in high schl and transfer thse credits t Stcktn; Rutgers and NJIT in Engineering; and with the Ernest Mari Schl f Pharmacy at Rutgers in Pharmacy. Rwan University Rwan University recently frmed an innvative partnership with Glucester Cunty Cllege Rwan Cllege at Glucester Cunty (RCGC), which became effective July 1, Under this 4

5 partnership, students are allwed t attend RCGC fr tw years befre mving n t Rwan University fr a bachelr's degree in participating fields f study. Student may cntinue either at the university's Glassbr campus r the cllege's Deptfrd campus. If students cntinue at Rwan Cllege, they receive a 15% discunt tward tuitin, but are required t maintain a specific GPA standards t be eligible t transfer. Thmas Edisn State Cllege TESC has a specific agreement with Bergen Cmmunity Cllege t facilitate a seamless pathway frm the BCC assciates degree t a TESC baccalaureate degree in the fllwing areas: BA in Psychlgy BA in Criminal Justice BSBA in General Management BSBA in Accunting BSBA in Accunting t CPAs BSBA in Marketing Additinally, TESC has agreements with numerus cmmunity clleges as part f its participatin in the Natinal Unifrm Nuclear Curriculum which leads t a TESC BSAST degree in Nuclear Engineering Technlgy. William Patersn University As a member f the NJTRANSFER statewide transfer articulatin rganizatin, William Patersn University fundamentally has agreements t accept transfer credit frm every New Jersey cmmunity cllege. Additinally, William Patersn University has eighty-ne (81) signed prgram t prgram articulatin agreements with ten (10) New Jersey cmmunity clleges. William Patersn University partnered with Mercer Cunty Cmmunity Cllege in fall 2009 t ffer an n-site bachelr s degree cmpletin prgram t cmmunity cllege graduates. T date, this highly successful prgram has prduced ver 130 William Patersn University graduates. 5