The Colorado Legislature has proposed a bill that would improve two- to four-year college credit transfers. Advocates of the bill believe it could become the blueprint for many other states looking to improve access and affordability of the bachelor’s degree.
Bachelor’s seeking students beginning at the community college level will most likely quit before earning their degree. The most common friction point for students is transferring into four-year institutions due to a lack of guidance around which of their earned credits will successfully carry over.
While many four-year institutions market to students that they accept up to 60 prior credits, they often reappropriate those credits toward electives and require students to “re-do” the courses they’ve already completed toward their major. This is a common loophole institutions use to ensure transferring students don’t escape the rigor of their courses. However, it is more likely than not to deter students from earning a degree on time, which hurts their likelihood of earning a degree at all, says John Mullane, president of College Transfer Solutions.
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How could Colorado’s transfer system change?
Mullane is optimistic about the Colorado bill and the accountability measures put into place to ensure colleges aren’t inhibiting two-year upward transfer students. Colleges would have to report the number of credits they are accepting and which will count toward students’ major or program, compared to those directed toward electives.
Furthermore, they’d have to report which credits are accepted or flat-out rejected by all public 4-year institutions. This information would then be shared with the public, giving current high school and community college students more insight into how to craft their course load. Colorado would be the first state to enact such a practice.
“This is very good for transparency to be able to see which schools are doing a good job transferring credits, which aren’t and what credits are having trouble transferring,” he says. “Are there certain pathways in which students are losing a lot more credits than other pathways?”
The bill, SB24-164, would also grant higher education students more rights. Institutions would have to provide them with a “timely response” on whether their two-year credits will be accepted. Rejected credits could be appealed at the students’ discretion.
“Low-income, minority or first-generation college students are more likely to begin their undergraduate studies at a community college,” Mullane says. “Developed transfer pathways are probably the number one factor states need to do to ensure that higher education is affordable and accessible for all their students.”
Colorado legislators have been busy recognizing institutions that support its first-generation students. The state House Education Committee recently passed a proposal that would identify and designate state schools as first-generation-serving institutions if their numbers match or exceed state averages, Chalkbeat reports. About 36% of Colorado’s college students in 2021 were the first in their family to attend college.
