HCM + CHEPP Release Cost of Transfer White Paper
Today, The Center for Higher Education Policy and Practice (CHEPP) released, The Costs of Today’s College Credit Transfer System for Learners and the Mindsets and Practices that Reduce Them, a white paper that delves into the cost human and financial costs of today’s college credit transfer system and explore the mindsets and practices that can reduce barriers and improve degree completion rates for today’s learners.
Many of today’s learners bring skills, experience, and prior learning to college with them. They need higher education systems that embrace transfer students and their learning. Instead, students face many barriers when they transfer between colleges or re-enroll. We know that when learners are able to transfer more credits, they are more likely to stay in college and graduate. But the unfortunate reality is that the average student loses 43% of their prior credits when they transfer – an experience that is demoralizing, time-consuming, and burdensome for learners.
About the Paper
Transfer and credit for prior learning (CPL) offer great potential to reduce costs and improve equitable access to the many benefits of a college degree. This paper looks at the issue of the cost of credit transfer three different ways. First, it identifies the barriers related to lost credits and the transfer of credit process, then translates those barriers and their impact into the costs learners incur. Second, it presents three case studies where institutions are creating learner friendly transfer processes, including an examination of transfer data at SNHU. Finally, the paper shares the stories of three transfer students to illustrate their priorities, their challenges, and what they found most impactful in supporting them to reengage in higher education and complete their degree.
This paper— the first in a series of collaborations between HCM and CHEPP on transfer policies and practice— also consists of case studies and student stories from Southern New Hampshire University and other higher ed institutions building transfer-friendly systems.
