Many students transfer between colleges these days, and the number appears to be increasing. Consumer choice is good and when students find that their first choice isn’t ideal, they can and should change. There’s a problem, though — often some of the credits they have accumulated aren’t accepted by the new institution.
North Carolina is finally joining a number of other states that have made the process of transferring between schools less difficult, by adopting a common course-numbering system. In today’s Martin Center article, Shannon Watkins explains why this matters.
She writes, “All too often, transfer students must retake courses because their credits are not accepted at the new institution. This usually happens either because the new college doesn’t accept a course (known as ‘credit loss’), or it accepts the course but the credit doesn’t apply to a student’s major (known as ‘excess credit’).”
Despite some complaining from school officials that implementing common course numbering will mean some extra work for them, the UNC system has adopted this sensible policy and will have it in place for the 2022-23 academic year.
“Going forward,” Watkins writes, “transfer students’ road to graduation should be met with fewer obstacles. By adopting a common course numbering policy, the UNC system has taken another important step in making students’ transition between institutions—whether it be a two-year or four-year—as seamless as possible.”