What Is an Articulation Agreement?
An articulation agreement is a formal agreement or contract (like) between academic institutions. The agreement describes how credits earned at one institution will transfer to another institution. This includes course equivalencies and program requirements specifically for students transitioning from a two-year school to a four-year school and in some cases - into a direct-admit program. Students who qualify to transfer under an articulation agreement may have their satisfactorily completed academic credits applied toward their new academic program. The main purpose schools establish these agreements is to streamline a transfer process - a win for students and a win both schools.
What Is the Purpose of Articulation Agreements for Transfer Students?
Articulation agreements play a crucial role in promoting accessibility, affordability, and efficiency within bachelor’s degree and direct-admit or pre-professional programs. Students who take advantage of articulation agreements will have their completed coursework recognized by the receiving institution - ensuring a seamless transfer. Students must still meet the admission requirements for the transfer institution since articulation agreements are not a guarantee of admission.
Articulation agreements are becoming more popular and many states have established portals or databases where incoming freshman can research all articulation agreements within the state. Students attending community colleges can also take published agreements and use them at out-of-state or Ivy League schools to ensure the proper coursework is completed. Community college students can use articulation agreements to transfer to Ivy League schools - please be sure to speak with transfer coordinators or academic advisors prior to beginning any program.
Types of Articulation Agreements
What are some of the types of agreements?
Course-to-course or course equivalency: This agreement identifies how individual courses match between both institutions in terms of relevance, content, and learning outcomes
Program to program: Aligns two-year degree programs with comparable four-year programs in terms of general education/core requirements, major requirements, and electives. An example of this would be completing General Education/Core courses in preparation for a Bachelor's degree in Elementary Education; these are sometimes called a 2+2 program.
Joint/dual admissions: This agreement allows students to be admitted to both institutions simultaneously, though they are only enrolled at one institution at a time. Since the institutions have a reciprocal agreement, the student receives credit for all coursework completed.
Guaranteed admissions: The student is granted admission when a certain set of requirements are completed. Students may need to complete additional requirements to gain admission into specific programs, like a pre-professional program.
Joint/Dual enrollment: Allows students to be enrolled in more than one institution simultaneously. This is common with high schools, allowing students to complete their high school diplomas while attending college courses to work toward a degree. In some cases, these may be referred to as a "fifth year" or "early middle college" program depending on the program.
It’s important to understand how the transfer process works between your current school and the school where you want to transfer so you know what to expect - be sure to verify all courses, credits and any special admission criteria are completed before the transfer is initiated.
Need help?
Aspen Ed reviews transcripts and coordinates with all institutions to verify transferability. If you need assistance, please contact us to set up a complimentary consultation.
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