The state currently doesn’t have a system for students who transfer from community colleges to receive an associate degree after they arrive at their new four-year school.
But The Tennessean reports a so-called “reverse transfer” program would allow students to collect that degree credential when requirements are met in pursuit of a bachelor’s degree.
A pilot run of the program is set to begin in the fall. Officials hope to fully roll it out in the spring of 2015 and involve every public higher institution in Tennessee and some private schools.
“It’s all about advancing the numbers of people with post-secondary credentials, and this is an approach that allows us to do that,” said University of Tennessee System President Joe DiPietro.
The program is a collaboration of the UT system, Tennessee Board of Regents, Tennessee Independent Colleges and Universities Association and Tennessee Higher Education Commission.
Assisting the reverse transfer effort is a two-year grant of nearly $400,000 from the Indianapolis-based Lumina Foundation, a private foundation that seeks to increase the number of Americans who attend college.
