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Students earn online degrees … retroactively


Community college students who transferred to Connecticut’s four-year online college program before completing their associate’s degree could be eligible to receive the degrees retroactively.

onlineThe initiative, known as a reverse-transfer program, will allow Naugatuck Valley Community College to issue associate’s degrees to students who successfully completed at least 15 credits at Naugatuck and continued their course work at the online Charter Oak State College.

Naugatuck Valley Community College, which has campuses in Waterbury and Danbury, is the first in Connecticut to adopt the program.

Other community colleges around the state are expected to follow and Western Connecticut State University is considering participating in the program.

“This is something that has become popular in other states but has not been done in Connecticut before,” NVCC spokeswoman Allison O’Leary said Monday.

To be eligible, students would complete at least 45 credits at Charter Oak, for a total of 60 credits, and meet other requirements to obtain an associate’s degree.

Charter Oak officials have identified about 80 students from the past three years who immediately meet the criteria for the associate’s degree.

On the one hand, this will boost the community college graduation rate, O’Leary said, since a lot of people start there and leave without a degree.

“With the economy the way it is, it is so difficult for some to stay in school for an extended period of time, and they go to the online program at Charter Oak,” O’Leary said. “This gives people a milestone and makes them more marketable. It’s a win-win for everybody. It raises the credentials of the population we are here to serve.”

“This program would strengthen our already strong connection with NVCC as the four-year universities and the community colleges partner to help students progress in their academic careers,” Western Connecticut State University spokesman Paul Steinmetz said Monday.

“NVCC and Western already have in place an agreement that provides a smooth path for students to transfer here, and granting students an associate’s degree, whether they earn the credits at a community college or at the university, will give them a boost to their resume and recognize their progress toward a four-year degree.”

NVCC solidified the terms of the program after consulting with University of Texas El Paso and El Paso Community College, which have worked together to reverse transfer more than 1,000 associate’s degrees in the past five years.

“Reverse transfer recognizes the work done by our college in preparing students to transfer and meet their educational goals,” NVCC’s Interim Dean of Academic Affairs Estela Lopez said in a news release. “More importantly, it offers an educational milestone to students who are working toward larger degree aspirations, which is a win-win for everybody.”

The degree completion for Connecticut residents is a shared goal, Ed Klonoski, president of Charter Oak State College, said in a news release.

“As Connecticut’s online public college, we are committed to contributing to the growth of a competitive workforce and flexible enough to support adults in a variety of ways to assist them in achieving their goals.”

©2013 The News-Times (Danbury, Conn.). Visit The News-Times (Danbury, Conn.) at www.newstimes.com. Distributed by MCT Information Services.

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