Board of Regents Approves CSCU General Education Transfer Credit Alignment Policy

The Connecticut Board of Regents for Higher Education (BOR) unanimously approved the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) General Education Transfer Credit Alignment Policy. The new policy will eliminate the barriers of transferring general education credits between the two- and four-year CSCU institutions and provides transparency on how courses will be applied to CSCU four-year institutions' degrees.

The new policy applies to all Connecticut State Community College (CT State) students and eliminates the risk of CT State's general education courses and credits not transferring to CSCU's four-year institutions that include Central, Eastern, Southern, and Western Connecticut State Universities, and Charter Oak State College (COSC). The goal of the policy is to guide more CT State students into transferring to the regional universities and COSC.

"The ineffective transfer of general education courses between two- and four-year institutions can be a barrier to student success. We designed and developed this policy to improve the educational outcomes of CT State students by protecting their time, money, and efforts as they seek to vertically transfer to our four regional state universities and Charter Oak State College," said Aynsley Diamond, CSCU Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs. "The new policy simplifies academic planning and allows students time to explore majors with minimal risk of losing credits."

The CSCU General Education Transfer Credit Alignment Policy will help retain students within the CSCU system by eliminating barriers in navigating specific general education requirements between CSCU institutions; reducing the risk of CT State's general education courses not being applied as general education courses at CSCU receiving institutions; decreasing the risk of students taking excess credit hours; and simplifying academic planning for vertical transfer between CT State to CSCU's four-year institutions.

"The CSCU General Education Transfer Credit Alignment Policy will have a lasting impact on our students as it addresses student success, affordability, and systemness," said CSCU Chancellor Terrence Cheng. "This policy will help ease the path for CT State students to transfer general education courses to CSCU's four-year institutions, complete a bachelor's degree program, and successfully enter the workforce."

The new policy is a category-to-category alignment of CSCU's two-year and four-year general education course categories, offering students more consistency and flexibility.

"By taking the general education requirements at CT State and aligning the categories to those at the four-year institutions, students can more easily navigate the education requirements between institutions," said Steve Marcelynas, CSCU Director for the Office of Transfer and Articulation. "This policy will simplify the academic planning process for vertical transfer within CSCU institutions and help faculty and staff guide our students to the end goal of completing a baccalaureate degree.