For
low-income students, paying for college is hard enough without having to repeat
courses. That’s why U.S. Department of Education Secretary Margaret Spellings
and many scholars are looking for answers that will help more students transfer
credits when they move from one higher education institution to another.
The
problem is particularly acute for low-income, first-generation students at
community colleges, where transfer agreements may not lead to a student gaining
credit for coursework already completed.
Of the
42 percent of community college students who plan to transfer to four-year
colleges, only about a quarter of them succeed, Spellings said recently.
“Their
inability to transfer credits is too high a hurdle. Every year, millions of
students who attempt to transfer are forced to spend more money and time
repeating coursework,” she said. “The most costly education is one not begun,
or the one you have to pay for twice.”
Spellings
said she plans to launch demonstration programs where states and higher
education administrators work together on effective strategies for transfer
students.
Many colleges serving a
large percentage of minority students are already aware of the problem.
Sometimes with federal assistance, they have funded initiatives that may pave
the way for more students to transfer from two- and four-year colleges and
universities.
