Overview

This project involves the creation of a web portal that will enable Arizona community college students to easily explore their bachelor's degree completion options at UArizona. Specifically, in the portal, students select their initial educational institution, identify the courses they have completed, and select the destination school and program. The portal will produce a detailed transfer report that provides a tailored degree plan to guide students towards their academic goals. Furthermore, the portal develops a systematic 2-year to 4-year academic plan.

Impact

Transfer students encounter inefficient and opaque credit recognition and application processes that put them at a distinct disadvantage with respect to other student demographics, jeopardizing their opportunities for success in higher education. Because students of color and students from low-income families are far more likely to begin their higher education careers at community colleges, transfer articulation inefficiencies constitute a structural inequity built into the system of higher education. These inefficiencies also lead to students losing on average one year of coursework in the transfer process which negatively impcts time to degree and overall tuition costs. This project aims to improve the effeciency of transfering by providing students individualized degree plans for prospective students. 

Strategic Alignment

Pillar 1 - Wildcat Journey

The Transfer Student Portal advances the Wildcat Journey by adapting to the current and future needs of our students and our state. Aligning more closely with our in-state community college partners will create clearer viable degree pathways and increase degree completion at UArizona. A robust prospective transfer student portal will centralize resources, provide point-in-time information, and allow students to learn more about course transferability and degree exploration. Eventually this project will lead to direct integration with community college student information systems in the State of Arizona and beyond.

Pillar 5 - Institutional Excellence

This dynamic project will serve as an innovative tool that the campus community can leverage to enhance the transfer student experience and demonstrate our Institutional Excellence as a best-in-class place to learn under Pillar 5 of the university's strategic plan.