Oregon: Taking on transfer

Legislation on its way to Governor Kitzhaber in Oregon has the potential to improve student transfer from two-year to four-year postsecondary institutions in the state.

H.B. 3521 directs the joint boards of education (the state board of education and board of higher education) to develop standards to apply community college credits toward four-year degrees. The legislation provides the standards may include:

• Admission standards to four-year schools for students who have earned an associate transfer degree
• The maximum number of credits a student who has earned an associate transfer degree must complete to receive various types of baccalaureate degrees
• The maximum number of credits a student who has completed a transfer program (1-year program to allow a student to earn credits toward a baccalaureate degree) would need to complete to earn various types of baccalaureate degrees
• A process by which a community college would award an associate's degree upon completion of necessary credits, regardless of whether a student applied to receive the degree or the student had earned the credits at a 2-year or 4-year campus
• Any other issues identified by the joint boards of education related to community college courses of study and student ability to transfer credits to a 2- or 4-year institution, to be admitted to a 4-year institution, or to earn a degree at a 2-year or 4-year institution.
• Requirements that students must meet to benefit from the aforementioned five standards.

The legislation also establishes reporting requirements for community colleges and 4-year institutions on numbers of transfer students in the system and the amount of credits they have accumulated at 2- and 4-year institutions, and reporting requirements for the joint boards, related to implementation of the standards by the 2014-15 school year.