The Michigan Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers transfer agreement allows students to transfer from community colleges to select baccalaureate universities within Michigan. It provides transferability of 30 credits to meet many, or all, of the general education requirements at four-year colleges.
Only about 36 percent of college students graduate in four years, but that number rises to about 60 percent for students who transfer from community colleges, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. University advisers think the MACRAO agreement can help students transfer even more effectively.
“Going to a community college your first year of college is a great way to save money and prepare you for a four-year university,” said Julie Teltow, a recent EMU graduate. “The gen-ed classes I took at the community college as well as the four-year university were very much equivalent. The MACRAO program helped me finish school in a timely manner, and I am happy that I was introduced to it.”
Teltow graduated in about four years with a degree in special education in cognitive impairment and a minor in secondary language arts. Before attending EMU, Teltow finished the MACRAO agreement at St. Clair Community College in Port Huron, Mich., where she heard about it from her adviser.
“I went to [my adviser] when I decided I wanted to transfer to Eastern, and he told me I would have to take less classes when I transferred if I did the MACRAO program,” Teltow said.
EMU uses partnerships called articulation agreements between itself and Michigan community colleges to encourage transfer students, but still find that many students are unaware of these programs.
After a student has completed the required courses, they can request that their transcript be posted as MACRAO transfer agreement satisfied. According to EMU advisers, these agreements can help students save time and money and enable them to explore more topics.
“Michigan students following the MACRAO agreement and/or articulation agreements will be able to take half or more of their credits from community colleges prior to transferring to EMU,” said Daniel Medrow, senior admissions adviser at EMU.
Medrow said their advising office sees hundreds of transfer students each semester.
“Over the last three years, we have averaged about 2,000 new transfer students enrolled at EMU to start in fall,” he said. “Personally, I may see a lower-hundred number in appointments in my office.”
Medrow, who has been working at EMU for 15 years, said most of the transfer students come from Michigan community colleges, but they don’t know about the MACRAO program.
“It seems that all students at Michigan community colleges should learn about this, but I don’t believe all community college advisers do a good job promoting it,” he said. “Any student who meets with us at EMU will certainly learn about it.”
In addition to the MACRAO agreement, EMU offers a variety of articulation agreements, some of which allow students to transfer 70-90 credits. Twenty-two Michigan community colleges participate in these agreements. The purpose of these, according to the EMU website, is to allow students to transfer with a minimal loss of credits and repeated coursework.
Medrow said students must decide on many factors before transferring, such as if the new college has a student’s desired major and the cost per credit hour.
“Ideally, the student seeks answers for those types of questions and evaluates the value of making a transfer,” he said.
Medrow suggests talking with advisers at EMU and community colleges, looking at the college website and visiting the campus.
“Students who are regularly meeting with their community college adviser and representatives from EMU will be gaining the most out of their transfer experience, versus someone who has no direction and is taking classes for no particular reason,” he said.
The National Association for College Admissions Counseling found about one-third of college students have transferred, and even students who work with advisers can still find themselves losing credits.
Doug Potter, manager of specialized recruiting at EMU, said education on the MACRAO is “one of the main challenges” they face in the advising office at EMU. He said usually students are taught about the MACRAO program only during orientation when they are already worrying about so much else.
“It is not as advertised as we would like to see it. There is a discord with terminology [of the MACRAO agreement] and the student,” he said.
Potter said the MACRAO is a good way for students to explore different subjects if they are undecided on a major. He said the majority of transfer students are coming from community colleges.
Potter advised students to work with the school they are planning to transfer to and to stick to their gen-eds before they transfer. He also said transferring using the MACRAO agreement is good for students who are really looking to maximize their finances.
The financial burden of obtaining a degree has caused many colleges to face record low enrollments this year. The American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers reports even community colleges dropped enrollment rates by 1 percent this year after growing 22 percent since 2007.
Community colleges continue to offer students lower tuition than public colleges and universities. EMU charges $256.70 per credit hour for Michigan and Ohio residents, while Washtenaw Community College charges $96 per in-district credit hour.
Even with his GI Bill, John Beal, 24, still considered price when deciding to transfer. After serving in the U.S. Army for seven years, Beal will receive four years of college paid for by the Army.
He decided to transfer and will pay for two years of community college himself, so when he transfers to EMU the Army will pay for his final two years of his undergraduate degree and two years of a graduate program.
“I chose the MACRAO program because I wanted to get the majority of my core classes from a local college before I start my GI Bill for a university,” he said. “I am paying out of pocket for the community college credits due to their affordability. This way I will have four years on top of my core classes.”
Beal has worked with advisers at EMU who he said were “more than helpful,” but didn’t feel the same about his advisers at Macomb Community College.
“The MCC advisers have always been vague with their answers,” he said.
Some students with MACRAO agreements face the downside, which is not having enough credits to graduate. At EMU, the general education requirements total 40 credit hours, but when students transfer with MACRAO they potentially could have only 30. Because students need 124 credits to graduate, these extra 10 credits usually still need to be made up somewhere. Many students make these credits up by having a double major or by taking electives that are interesting to them.
“I never had any issues credit-wise,” Teltow said. “I had an awesome adviser at my community college as well as at Eastern, who helped me figure out my graduation credits needed early on in my college career. This allowed me to have an overview of all of the classes I needed to take in order to graduate.”
With the rise of students transferring from community colleges, the MACRAO program could be a beneficial way for them to choose the right major and get the most out of college.
“I started this past semester wanting to major in dietetics,” Beal said. “I have changed my MACRAO status to undecided as of now, until I decide. I look at my time at community college as a grace period of sorts to choose the right major for myself. I want to be 100 percent before I start my GI Bill.”
