Faced with rising enrollments and escalating costs of higher education, Virginia is focusing on increasing enrollment in two-year schools, including those in the Virginia Community College System (VCCS), and providing a seamless transfer process to four-year institutions. The General Assembly recently has enacted new laws designed to encourage students to attend a two-year college, obtain an associate's degree and transfer to a four-year institution to complete their bachelor's degree.
The state expects an additional 60,000 students in its higher education system by 2012 and has determined that the state's cost of educating students at a two-year college is less than half the cost of educating them at a four-year university.
Transfer Agreements
In 2005, the Virginia General Assembly passed the Restructuring Act, which allows state universities to seek greater financial and administrative autonomy over their operations from the state. In return, the General Assembly required state universities to adopt 11 state goals. The sixth state goal obligates Virginia universities to adopt transfer agreements with two-year colleges.
In April 2006, the University released its first transfer agreement with VCCS. This agreement guaranteed admission to the University's College of Arts & Sciences to associate's degree holders with at least a 3.4 grade point average and no grade lower than a C in a set of required classes. In addition, the University has committed to entering into guaranteed transfer agreements with VCCS for admissions to the University's Schools of Engineering, Architecture, Nursing, Commerce and Education.
U.Va.'s Associate Dean of Admissions Greg Roberts said the next articulation agreement would occur between the Engineering School and VCCS, probably within the next year. Roberts pointed out that the agreement with the Engineering School will require higher standards, such as a higher grade point average, than the agreement with the College since the Engineering School is smaller.
Because other schools within the University, such as the Commerce School, have an even smaller enrollment than the Engineering School, Roberts explained that even with a required minimum GPA of 4.0, the number of associate degree students whothe school with guaranteed admission may still exceed the number of slots open for transfer students.
"It is a possibility for [some schools, such as] Commerce, to have a subjective part, such as an essay," Roberts said.
In addition to imposing the adoption of state goals, the Commonwealth required the three schools seeking the highest levels of autonomy to negotiate management agreements with the Governor's Office. The University's management agreement stated that it will "establish a program under which [the University of Virginia, William & Mary and Virginia Tech] will increase significantly the number of [two-year college] students transferring to their institutions."
According to Roberts, the number of transfer students the University will take from two-year Virginia colleges will increase over the next several years. Last year, the University enrolled 185 transfer students from two-year Virginia colleges. The number of these students admitted will increase each year, and by the 2009-2010 school year, 300 out of 550 transfer students admitted to the University will be from VCCS.
"We will be taking roughly 60 percent of transfer students [from VCCS]," Roberts said. "Unless we increase the overall number of transfers, we will decrease the number of [transfer] students from four-year schools."
He said he was concerned about finding enough qualified transfer students from two-year institutions to fulfill the University's commitment.
"I am more worried about not reaching that goal than over-enrolling," Roberts said.
Sen. William Stosch, the Republican majority leader in the state Senate, R-District 12, expressed his aim to increase the number of two-year community college transfers and his belief that education at a two-year college can be equivalent to studying at a four-year institution.
"We believe the first two years can be equally rigorous," Stosch said. "The ultimate goal is to drive down the cost so it will be more accessible and affordable to families."
Letters of Intent
Legislation passed in 2006 permits a Virginia community college student to submit a written declaration to a state four-year institution indicating his or her intent to enroll upon obtaining an associate's degree should he or she meet the necessary requirements. If the student then completes an associate's degree within four years of submitting the letter and enrolls in the four-year institution within 18 months of receiving his or her associate's degree, the student then becomes entitled to the rights and privileges of the articulation agreement in effect at the time he submitted his letter.
"They would lock in with the agreement in place when they complete the letter of intent," Roberts said.
According to Roberts, VCCS has control over the management of the letters of intent.
"We don't have a way to track them," Roberts said.
Dual Admissions Agreements
A new law that went into effect July 1, 2006 requires four-year institutions to establish dual admissions agreements with the state's two-year colleges. This agreement commits the four-year school to admit qualified students at the time they enroll in a community college. According to the legislation, the four-year institution must automatically admit students who successfully complete their associate's degrees and meet the other requirements contained in the agreements. The agreements must also "set forth the students' access to the privileges of enrollment in both institutions during the time enrolled in either institution."
According to Craig Herndon, the associate for academic affairs of the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, the dual admissions agreements differ from guaranteed admissions.
"Acceptance is given on the front end for dual admissions and the back end for guaranteed transfer," he said.
Stosch explained that dual admissions agreements provide a "seamless transfer" between two-year colleges and four-year universities.
"There's too much of a hassle for young people to be accepted [separately] into the two institutions," Stosch said.
The standards for acceptance into the dual admissions program at the University are still undefined. According to the Clorisa Phillips, university associate provost for institutional advancement, the University will be considering the requirements next year.
"In the second half of 2007, as the University prepares our 2008-2014 six-year plan, we will consider dual admissions agreements," Phillips said.
Proposed Legislation
In the upcoming 2007 legislative session, Stosch will introduce a bill to enact community college transfer grants. Stosch hopes to encourage a member of the House to introduce the same bill simultaneously in order to speed the process. This proposed legislation would essentially provide associate's degree holders a grant to lower their tuition at the four-year institution for their final two years of education. Stosch introduced a similar bill last year; however, even though the Senate passed it unanimously, it stalled in the House Appropriations Committee.
Stosch said while the bill stalled in the House, it was not negatively received. He explained that the grant bill saves money not only for students who earn their associate's degree but also the state.
"At the present, the state provides a supplement of about $3,500 [for each community college student]," Stosch said. "The importance of that statement is that the state would save money [if the students attended community college for their first two years of higher education]. We would like to capture that money that would follow the student when they become seniors and juniors."
According to the 2006 Public Funding of Higher Education in Virginia Joint Subcommittee report, the state supplement per University student is $9,757.
However, Roberts pointed out that transfer grants potentially could go to students with no financial need and that the University already provides grants to those with a demonstrated need.
"I worry about the equality of tuition rates," Roberts said. "Technically, there shouldn't be a need [for grants to go to transfer students] when we meet all financial need."
An impact statement pertaining to last year's proposed bill on transfer grants stated that "if grants encourage too many students to attend a community college for their first two years, four-year institutions may be forced to cut back first year enrollments to accommodate transfers entering in their third year."
However, Roberts does not think that the transfer agreements will affect the first-year admissions.
"It would encourage moderate high school students who were smart but didn't put in the effort [during high school]," Roberts said. "I don't think that you will see U.Va.-caliber students go to community college."
In the upcoming legislative session, representatives will consider a House bill carried over from last year. It requires four-year colleges to annually accept and enroll a specific minimum number of associate degree holders as opposed to the present target goal contained in the previous legislation.
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