Delaware Helping College Transfer Students In-State and Beyond

WEST CHESTER, Pa., Sept. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- AcademyOne, Inc. and the Delaware Higher Education Office announced bold improvements to the college transfer experience for students in Delaware and beyond. Five Delaware colleges and universities, including three public and two independent institutions, will use CollegeTransfer.Net to simplify transfer information for students and staff charged with managing transfer.  Delaware Technical & Community College, Delaware State University and University of Delaware are the three participating public institutions.  The two independent institutions include Wilmington University and Wesley College.

CollegeTransfer.Net will help students understand how courses transfer among Delaware universities and how out-of-state coursework transfers into participating Delaware institutions.  Delaware's P-20 Council is leading efforts to simplify transfer in Delaware.  Co-chaired by Dr. Lillian Lowery, Secretary of Education, and Dr. Teri Quinn Gray, President of the State Board of Education, the P-20 Council works to coordinate transitions from early childhood to post-secondary education.  Students can confidently plan their degree path and not worry about retaking courses or adding time and cost to their dreams of attaining a college degree.  According to a report just released by the Lumina Foundation, A Stronger Nation Through Higher Education, 37% of Delaware's working adults ages 25- 64 years old hold at least a two year degree.   Secretary Lowery notes, "If we hope to meet the President's goal of 60% higher education attainment, Delaware will need to see an annual increase in associate and bachelor's degrees of 6.3% -- that is an increase of 821 degrees each year."

Dr. Judi Coffield, Chair of the Higher Education Transfer Credit Matrix Subcommittee of Delaware's P-20 Council commented, "This effort is one of many that will bring us closer to achieving the goals outlined in Governor Markell's Education Blueprint."  Keeping a college education flexible and affordable is more important than ever to students and families in today's turbulent economy.  Dr. Coffield continues, "Research tells us that students who enter college with some college credits under their belts complete college at much higher rates than those who do not.  Increasing the number of students who go on to a post secondary institution (including both 2-year and 4-year programs) and earn a degree will increase Delaware's competiveness in today's global economy."

Transferring can increase costs and cause delays if students have inaccurate and unreliable information about transfer options and policies.  AcademyOne eliminates transfer obstacles with  user-friendly technology that today's learners and academic professionals expect and deserve.  University students and staff instantly access information on social networks such as Facebook and mobile devices like iPhones.  It is unfair and inefficient to force students and staff to sift through paper based college catalogs, transfer agreements and outdated databases or force them to make multiple phone calls or appointments during business hours.

CollegeTransfer.Net is a reliable, easy to navigate website, available on a 24/7 basis, containing accurate, up-to-date transfer information.  According to Lauretta Cooper, Articulation Coordinator at Delaware Technical & Community College, "We're looking forward to being able to provide our students with 24/7 access to up-to-date course descriptions and course transfer information for those who want to transfer to other Delaware institutions as well as regional colleges.  It will also be a simple way for students to navigate the more than 100 program-to-program articulation agreements available to students."  Delaware Tech develops these agreements through its Connected Degree Program which allows students to complete the first two years of a bachelor's degree at Delaware Tech and then be accepted as juniors at a 4-year institution.  The program provides a seamless transfer between institutions, saving students money and time and reducing confusion.  Using CollegeTransfer.Net's Transfer Agreement Management Center, students will have an easy way to review Delaware Tech's program-to-program transfer agreements. CollegeTransfer.Net is the first and most comprehensive national resource for students and colleges managing transfer.

Non-transferrable coursework, delayed graduation, added tuition and postponed employment is known among policy makers and legislators as the "college transfer tax." Delaware institutions serve more than fifty-thousand college students.  President of the Delaware State Board of Education, Dr. Teri Quinn Gray commented, "The addition of AcademyOne will simplify navigating the path to college for Delaware students and parents and at the same time will provide an easy to use, behind the scenes approval process for the higher education institutions that will automatically update the user interface. In the end, this service will save valuable time and money for both families and colleges and universities." Participating Delaware colleges expect to have their transfer data on CollegeTransfer.Net in the Fall of 2010.

About AcademyOne

AcademyOne is an innovative technology and services company providing solutions that address learner mobility, academic progress and transitions and credit portability.  The company focuses on serving learners, institutions, agencies and governments addressing the challenges of an increasingly mobile population of learners.  AcademyOne's team of professionals has a diverse array of academic, operational and technology experience.  The company has engineered a suite of college transfer and prior learning recognition applications and built a comprehensive database storing over 3.5 million courses from across 4,000 degree-granting institutions.

About Delaware Higher Education Office

As part of the Delaware Department of Education, the Higher Education Office works to ensure that Delawareans have access to state resources for higher education by administering financial assistance programs and providing postsecondary education information to students, parents and state policymakers.

SOURCE AcademyOne, Inc.