Sova

"Nationally, the process of transferring credits can saddle learners with significant added costs. To remedy this, some institutions are supporting student success through a broader acceptance of transfer credit and other practices aimed at reducing costs to students. The result has not been a loss of tuition revenue or students who are underprepared for upper-level courses. Rather, by aligning policies with students’ interests, those institutions are reaping the benefits of greater enrollment, retention and completion." Read more from Will Carroll and Meaghan R. in today's #BeyondTransfer blog featured in Inside Higher Ed: https://lnkd.in/epGBfzUf

Should we focus on getting learners across the finish line or should we examine the finish line itself? In this week's #BeyondTransfer, our newest team member, Marty J. Alvarado, takes a hard look at the implications and contributing factors of the industry’s completion agenda. "We’ve been trying to address the credit mobility transfer issue for decades, and while some states or systems do it better than others, the issue of credit mobility is still rooted in holding individuals to the idea of a variety of institutionally defined finish lines—degrees, certificates, etc... In a post-industrial era, we see increased questioning of the purpose of higher education and should likewise evaluate the extent to which it must evolve." Read more in today's Inside Higher Ed: https://lnkd.in/e2HY44JA

This is a call to action for higher education institutions to help us raise the bar. Higher education looks different than it did a few decades ago, and Middle States Commission on Higher Education is working to help institutions navigate new routes for learning and translate these opportunities into improved student learning experiences. In this week's #BeyondTransfer, Bridgette Boody, Amy Moseder, Ed.D., and Heather Perfetti, J.D.,Ed.D. highlight misconceptions and myths around accreditors and transfer policies in order to impact student success. Read this myth-busting blog featured in Inside Higher Ed: https://lnkd.in/eianUR5u

What percentage of transfer students re-enroll after their first semester? How do transfer students’ GPAs change in their first post-transfer semester? What percentage of vertical transfer students graduate within three years? What percentage of transferred credits are accepted and how many credits on average count toward transfer students’ intended majors? How do all these outcomes vary by major? Such metrics, especially when measured across years, offer institutions opportunities to identify areas where progress has been or where improvements could be made. In this week's #BeyondTransfer blog, David Wutchiett and Madeline Trimble share opportunities for progress and improvements through improved data measurement at The City University of New York. Read more in Inside Higher Ed: https://lnkd.in/ePv8DPHc

Sova is thrilled to announce the addition of three new Partners to our team. These committed and tested leaders will reinforce our mission to advance socioeconomic mobility and strengthen our ability to support higher education leaders in achieving significantly better and more equitable outcomes for today’s learners. Read the full announcement here: https://lnkd.in/ekUMDWZ4

California Community College and California State University in partnership with K-12 -- the CCC-CSU Transfer Collaborative -- aims to make transfer to a California State University an attainable option for all California students. In this week's #BeyondTransfer, Sova team member, Patricia Parker, shares the outcome of a year of hard work from the CCC-CSU Collaborative -- the Transfer Collaborative Framework -- and its call to action for philanthropy, advocacy, and lawmaker levels across California. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/e6AyFMwb

The American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO) and Sova announce the launch of the Learning Evaluation and Recognition for the Next Generation (LEARN) Commission, a new national effort to recognize undergraduate learning and improve credit evaluation policies and practices. Composed of practitioner leaders, accreditors, and research experts from across the country, the Commission will recommend national guidelines to practitioners for recognizing undergraduate learning in all its forms and applying learning to credentials, with the intent of advancing learning mobility. “These lost credits and missed opportunities to recognize relevant learning have a real cost to learners, to institutions, and to society more broadly,” says Lara Couturier, Ph.D., Principal at Sova. “Learners pay a high transfer penalty, wasting time and money as they extend their time to completion. For this reason, we continue to see inequitable attainment outcomes by income and by race and ethnicity.” ...“The LEARN Commission will provide practical guidance for how to modernize credit evaluation processes to ensure institutions are able to reach and serve this growing market of mobile learners.” Read the full press release here: https://lnkd.in/gbzBJhxi

We live in a world where learning opportunities exist everywhere, in both formal and nonformal settings. Large-scale online courses, corporate or other workplace learning opportunities, skill or competency-based short courses, and self-paced learning modules are offered by institutions and third-party organizations alike. These "prior learning" experiences are a very real component of the learner ecosystem. The latest AACRAO report on the Landscape of Credit for Prior Learning (CPL) is a mixed report card on post-secondary institutional assessment practices: Some highlights: --82% of the responding institutions offer one or more CPL pathways to learners --54% will not accept CPL in transfer, independent of whether CPL is offered at the institution --67% charge a fee for one or more types of CPL; few offer financial assistance to offset any fees --71% of institutions require a learner to be admitted to the institution before CPL can be evaluated for credit; 13% do not and the remaining 16% report, “maybe, it depends on a number of factors” "It’s clear that while opportunities to access nonformal and nontraditional learning have multiplied, institutional capacity, in the form of policies, practices, and systems has not kept pace with the explosion of learning opportunities." - Melanie Gottlieb, CAE Read more about the barriers to recognizing learning in the latest #BeyondTransfer featured in Inside Higher Ed: https://lnkd.in/gSyJHk5E

60 percent attainment by 2025. Lumina Foundation set this bold, national goal in 2008 and inspired states across the nation to follow suit. States like Kentucky and Rhode Island are leading the charge with strong 3.4 percentage point increases in recent years, and four other states plus the District of Columbia have already surpassed 60 percent. Others are aiming higher: Massachusetts is at 62 percent today, with its sights set on 70 percent of residents holding degrees and certificates. As Lumina and the states plan their next steps, Sova team members Lara Couturier, Ph.D. and Jenny Schanker, Ed.D. interviewed stakeholders to reflect on progress made—and what’s urgently needed to reach beyond 60 percent attainment and build a brighter future. Interviewees sent a clear message – “We can’t stop now”--and they are calling on Lumina to deepen its work in three critical areas. Read more in their four-part Road to 60 blog series: https://sova.org/blog/

"When strong collaboration exists, transfer students are more successful. Sustaining meaningful partnerships between two or more institutions to promote the success of students is work that far exceeds an occasional articulation agreement or a once a year meeting of academic advisers. It requires figurative or literal spaces that purposely bring together staff, faculty and administrators to share successes and solve challenges. The CUNY Transfer Explorer (CUNY T-Rex) Community of Practice (CoP), a collaboration between The City University of New York (CUNY) and nonprofit Ithaka S+R, is one of those spaces. CUNY T-Rex is a website that shows how all credits and past learning transfer and apply to program requirements. Learn more about this catalyst for change and collaboration in this week's #BeyondTransfer featured in Inside Higher Ed: https://lnkd.in/eNCUiRuh