Project Outcomes

Articulation Agreements

Through the work of the faculty members and administrators at the 15 four-year institutions and their 15 two-year college partners, discipline-specific pathways to bachelor of arts and bachelor of science programs in psychology and sociology were designed and finalized.

In April 2021, the NCCCS president and NCICU president, Hope Williams, signed articulation agreements stating that students studying psychology or sociology at North Carolina’s community colleges could seamlessly transfer to independent colleges and universities in the state to complete a bachelor’s degree in one of these disciplines. This agreement provides a progression degree plan that includes required general education and prerequisite courses that are acceptable to all signatory programs. The NCICU Board approved the agreements on April 14, 2021, and the State Board of Community Colleges approved them on April 16, 2021. The agreements went into effect with the Fall 2021 semester. The agreement applies to all 58 community colleges in North Carolina, while independent colleges and universities can individually sign on; as of September 2022, 15 NCICU institutions have officially signed on to the articulation agreements in sociology and psychology.

In addition to psychology and sociology, NCICU and NCCCS currently have articulation agreements in music, theater, fine arts, teacher education, nursing, and early childhood programs.5

Strengthened Collaboration Within and Between Institutions

Through the convenings and the facilitated meetings between partner institutions, faculty and staff participants in the Independent Transfer Pathways Project built stronger relationships with peers at partner institutions or deepened connections to include individual faculty members and administrators, setting up a foundation of trust and further avenues for communication and collaboration. As one participant shared, “while our institutions had an existing relationship, the grant supported the expansion of fellowship and professional collaboration across campuses. These connections directly support our students by providing a dynamic, ongoing path for transfer that is built upon deep connections and professional respect amongst colleagues in our community.”

Participants enthusiastically embraced the opportunity to work with one another to support students. At the conclusion of the project, another participant wrote that “there is now a stronger sense of ‘we are better together’ permeating the higher education landscape in North Carolina, and the collaboration happening between community colleges and independent colleges is a great example. We’re coming to the table, saying ‘What do we have to offer? What can we do together? What can we build that will offer a whole new world of opportunity for students?’”

By facilitating conversations across offices and departments as well as different campuses, the project also helped create better communications and processes to support transfer, which requires expertise from many different parts of the institution. One participant agreed that, “bringing together the offices of the registrar, financial aid, instructional technology, academic advising, and admissions, along with program leaders and faculty, gave us great insight into producing more effective strategies for transfer student success.” Another frankly shared that the project had helped foster communication on their campus between different departments, as “the executive director of admissions, associate director of transfer admissions, associate director for graduate and professional studies, and the vice president for academic affairs now meet regularly to identify hurdles preventing a smooth transition of transfer students.” At Johnson C. Smith University, this project led to a more formal partnership with Central Piedmont Community College, thanks in no small part to the JCSU president’s commitment to supporting transfer.

The collaboration between partner institutions has also created more opportunities for community college students to explore life at an independent four-year institution before they decide to transfer. For instance, Barton College provides students at Wilson Community College with a college ID and access to their campus and library through the Bulldog Advantage program. As part of this initiative, faculty members at Barton plan to revive the Psychology Club and to invite Wilson Community College students to participate, with the goal of fostering a sense of belonging and encouraging future transfers.

The discussion among NCICU presidents about the project led other institutions to become more involved, too. Lenoir-Rhyne University started a program called “Bear Bound,” which caps the cost of transfer students through their bachelor’s degree at the university. Some students even live in the residence halls of the university while they are still enrolled at the community college.

Holistic Advising and Student Support

Through the Independent Transfer Pathways Project, students received additional support to help them seamlessly transfer from community colleges into four-year, independent colleges and universities and to thrive in their new environments. Students will benefit from a more extensive and holistic advising process at the community college and four-year institution level. Several institutions mentioned posting transfer guides on their website along with curriculum sheets and transfer equivalency guides, creating a more transparent process for students. One institution also reported that they had expanded their advising staff and operations to provide more tailored support to community college transfer students. Advising at both types of institutions has also been enriched and made more current through the relationships that faculty members and administrators have built with their counterparts at partner institutions. For example, Guilford College faculty and advisors regularly share updates about degree programs, student services, and scholarship opportunities with the Student Success Center at Guilford Technical Community College (GTCC), and a member of Guilford College sits on the Transfer Advisory Board at GTCC and shares relevant updates at biannual meetings.

Participating colleges reported improved and expanded advising staff and operations specifically to better accommodate the specific needs of community college transfer students where all transfer students flow through a single office, to ensure a seamless transition to the four-year institution. Most institutions revisited or revised their online resources, including curriculum sheets and transfer equivalency guides. Administrators from one participating NCICU institution reported that the project led to greater communication and collaboration both internally and with community college partners, as well as provided prospective students with a great resource for accurate information related to admissions, scholarships, and academic advising.

New Financial Aid Resources for Community College Transfer Students

A major achievement of the project was the creation of new financial aid opportunities designed for community college transfer students. For example, Wingate University built a new program with several community college partners, Gateway to Wingate, which includes a guarantee that annual out-of-pocket costs will not exceed $2,500 for any associate degree earner from these institutions. Other institutions also designed new scholarships for transfer students, especially for students whose time-to-degree takes longer than anticipated. In a similar vein, institutions also integrated financial planning into the advising process. As part of its new Bulldog Advantage program, Barton College included financial advising as well as academic advising in its partnership with local community colleges including Wilson Community College. As a result of this project, institutional leaders acknowledged the needs of many transfer students, and financial scholarship support was also added to the agreement.

Increase in Transfer Enrollment and Creation of New Transfer Pathways

While the Independent Transfer Pathways Project has greatly enriched the resources and support available to transfer students at both community colleges and independent four-year institutions in North Carolina, the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on transfer enrollment cannot be ignored. The National Student Clearinghouse Transfer and Progress Report has tracked a steady decline in “upward transfer” from community colleges to four-year institutions since the onset of the pandemic, with a total decrease in enrollment of nearly 15 percent since 2020.6 In this context, it is unsurprising that 12 of the 15 participating independent colleges and universities saw declines in community college transfer enrollment between Fall 2019 and Fall 2022.

However, it is important to highlight that some participating institutions in the project have shown increased transfer enrollment, due in some measure to the outstanding work done by their faculty and staff members on this project. Wingate University, which implemented an ambitious new financial aid program for transfer students during the project, had an increase in transfer student enrollment of 26 percent from Fall 2021 to Fall 2022, and another 31 percent from Spring 2022 to Spring 2023. Shaw University also saw an increase in transfer enrollment from 23 community college transfers in Fall 2019 to 34 in Fall 2022, an increase of nearly 50 percent. Some institutions have also seen increases in transfer enrollment specifically from their partner institutions. At Catawba College, the collaboration with Rowan-Cabarrus Community College built through the Independent Transfer Pathways Project spurred a new “Learn Local, Grow Local” transfer agreement and an increase in transfer enrollment between the two institutions. Since the agreement was signed in early 2020, transfer enrollment at Catawba from Rowan-Cabarrus increased from under 40 students in Fall 2019 to nearly 100 students in Fall 2021.

The Independent Transfer Pathways Projects has also laid a foundation to increase transfer in the coming years through the creation of more transfer pathways beyond those in sociology and psychology. Building on their relationships with their partner institutions and using the sociology and psychology articulation agreements as a template, many of the participating institutions have forged their own agreements with their partners that allow for the transfer of credits towards majors in other disciplines. For example, Brevard College and Blue Ridge Community College have created several bilateral agreements as a result of this project, while Catawba College and Rowan-Cabarrus Community College have launched over 50 pathways as part of their “Learn Local, Grow Local” agreement, including pathways in accounting, business, digital media, and technology. Gardner-Webb University, which has a long history of transfer and in significant numbers, established “Bulldog Bound,” a co-admission agreement with multiple community colleges, including Isothermal Community College and Blue Ridge Community College. Meredith College and Salem College, two of NCICU’s colleges for women, have long offered college completion programs for women and kept this focus in their transfer initiatives launched through the Independent Transfer Pathways Project.