Now welcoming its third class of transfer students, the University’s guaranteed admission program for community college graduates is rapidly expanding and redefining how some students pursue an education.
“I think it is progressing extremely well,” Associate Dean of Admissions Greg Roberts said about the program. “We are seeing more and more strong community college students apply.”
Roberts explained that the program, first announced in spring 2006, guarantees admission to the College of Arts & Sciences for students who earn an associate’s degree at a community college and graduate with a 3.4 grade point average. Students also must complete all area proficiency requirements prior to entering the University with no lower than a “C” in any class and achieve a final grade of “B” in the English 111 and 112 courses.
“I think these transfer agreements are revolutionary to the way our community colleges and our four-year institutions work together,” said Jeff Kraus, assistant vice chancellor of public relations for the Virginia Community College System.
Kraus said the percentage of Virginians pursuing a college degree — about 33 percent — has not changed in 30 years. He noted that the commonwealth attracts many college students from outside its borders but is not a leader in post-secondary education itself. Two-thirds of students currently enrolled in a Virginia college or university are community college students, he noted.
Those facts illustrate the need and market for programs like the University’s guaranteed acceptance program, he added, noting that such programs serve to build an increased emphasis on higher education.
Kraus said he feels that programs like the University’s provide Virginians with an additional opportunity to gain the skills necessary to compete in today’s job market. Especially in light of the troubled economy and the significantly lower cost of attendance, community college is an attractive option for many commonwealth residents, he said.
“There is a really outdated perception floating around that students who choose that route did so because they couldn’t get in anywhere else,” Kraus said. “That is just not true.”
When the program was announced, some wondered whether community college transfer students admitted via the guaranteed program would be able to compete in the University’s rigorous academic environment. James Groves, assistant dean for the department of materials science and engineering, however, said many community college transfer students have excelled at the University, often maintaining grade point averages between 3.0 and 4.0.
Roberts voiced a similar sentiment, noting “we feel that they are prepared.”
This year, Roberts said, 618 community college students applied for University admission, and of the 303 admitted, 256 decided to enroll. Roberts estimated that slightly fewer than 100 of those students were admitted through the University’s guaranteed College admission program.
A total of 558 transfer students were admitted this fall, according to Roberts, which means just over half of this year’s admitted transfer students attended community college, versus one-third in the two other years the guaranteed admissions program has existed. Roberts said the program itself has also seen considerable growth, admitting more students this year than in the past.
This growth is also beginning to express itself in a variety forms. In April, the Engineering School announced plans to begin an automatic VCCS acceptance program of its own and will admit the first class of automatic transfers in April 2009, Groves noted. Those transfer students, he said, must have earned an associate of science degree in engineering with a grade point average of at least 3.4 to be offered automatic admission.
But while the automatic admission process for community college students transferring to the Engineering School may mirror the one employed for College automatic admissions, the actual University experience for those admitted Engineering students has the potential to be significantly different than that of their College counterparts.
Groves said Engineering students transferring to the University will not be required to complete their University education on Grounds, as per a new VCCS-University initiative program designed just for them. Groves said next fall will witness the start of a unique initiative between VCCS and the University: “Produced in Virginia.” Groves said the engineering science bachelor’s degree portion of the program will allow students to earn a University degree in engineering by taking classes at local community colleges. In fall 2009, Central Virginia Community College in Lynchburg, which already offers an associate engineering science degree under the auspices of “Produced in Virginia,” will become the first VCCS school to offer University classes taught by University faculty members, he said. Danville Community College will be the next VCCS school to offer those classes in 2010, he added.
“It’s going to infuse more technology into our teaching environment,” Groves said, adding that in some cases, classes will be held from a distance via high-speed Internet connections.
A “laboratory in a box” will also be available for students to purchase from their local community colleges for the completion of assigned lab work. Participating students will also be able to purchase the individual components of a lab and use computers to complete their assignments.
“If you look at engineering today, engineering is constructed of teams situated across the globe,” Groves said, adding that the upcoming “Produced in Virginia” program offers training for this type of environment. “That’s the type of education we need to put in front of them.”
Groves said another unique feature of the “Produced in Virginia” program is that it will not only target recent high school graduates but also older adults seeking to earn a college degree. He said he expects to get a “mixed bag” of applicants: some 18- and 19-year old students as well as some students in their 20s and 30s.
“These students will undoubtedly be different,” Groves said, noting, though, that he does not expect “Produced in Virginia” students to be any more challenged by the curriculum than typical University students. He said many “Produced in Virginia” students will have had years of hands-on engineering experience, which will undoubtedly benefit them in the classroom.
“Produced in Virginia,” though, is not the final step VCCS and the University will take to provide opportunities for community college transfer students, Kraus noted.
“We are making progress,” Kraus said. “But we are still not where we would like to be.”
Kraus said automatic acceptance programs are in place across the state for liberal arts, engineering and nursing, but added that expansion is always a possibility. Some two dozen public and private institutions have signed partnerships with VCCS since the first automatic decision program was first developed at Virginia Tech in 2004, he said.
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