The Indiana Senate unanimously passed a bill Feb. 26 that would create a statewide articulation agreement between two-year and four-year universities.
As it stands, two-year schools, such as Ivy Tech Community College and Vincennes University, must forge agreements with state schools individually.
Under Senate Bill 182, a universal agreement would be established. That means transfer students who have received an associate degree in Indiana would be able to transfer to a bachelor’s degree program at any state school without fear of losing their credits.
“My legislation will give students more flexibility in their college education, so that fewer Hoosiers spend years in college without a degree to show for it,” said author of the bill and District 17 state Sen. Jim Banks in a press release.
It would also establish a mandate that requires the Commission for Higher Education to create a task force made up of representatives from each of Indiana’s public universities. They would be assigned to communicate the statewide articulation agreement to the public.
“This would be very much the same role that we played with implementing last year’s (Senate Enrolled Act 182),” said Ken Sauer, a senior associate commissioner for the CHE.
Jeffery Fanter, a senior spokesperson for Ivy Tech Community College, was supportive of the bill.
“We believe that SB 182 continues to provide that all-important seamless higher education here in Indiana,” the spokesman said.
A companion issue the bill attempts to tackle is that of courses with different names and course numbers from one school to the next despite similar content.
An example of the issue given in the most recent fiscal report prepared by the Office of Fiscal and Management Analysis explains that “Introduction to Political Science at Indiana University is POLY-Y101, but the course is Introduction to the Study of Political Science at Purdue University, POL 20000.”
Under the new system, a course map would be derived to make clear to students what classes transfer from associate degree programs to bachelor’s degree programs and what they are called.
“It will make the process of transferring credits between schools easier to understand for the students,” Fanter said.
Banks estimated the bill could save students as much as 40% on total tuition costs.
Originally published in Ellettsville Journal, 2013. Republished here for archival and portfolio purposes.