Community College Partnerships
Each year, 80% of students who enroll in community colleges say that their long-term goal is to complete a bachelor’s degree, but only 16% of them do, and that percentage is dropping.
This is one of the reasons Susquehanna University has been creating articulation agreements with two-year institutions across the Commonwealth and beyond. These agreements are designed to make the pathway to completion of a bachelor’s degree seamless and attainable for talented students who begin that journey at one of our two-year partners.
One of those agreements is with Harrisburg Area Community College (HACC). Their president, John J. “Ski” Sygielski was on our campus yesterday to discuss how we can collaborate to help more students achieve their goal of earning a four-year degree. It was a great visit. His passion for student success parallels that of our faculty and staff, and we will strive build a pipeline together.
The articulation agreements we have put in place include robust financial aid packages for students completing an A.A. or A.S. degree with a GPA of 3.0 or higher and additional scholarships if those students are members of Phi Theta Kappa, the national honor society for two-year colleges.
A few years ago, out of their deep commitment to these students, our faculty voted to change our graduation requirements so students arriving with an A.A. or A.S. degree can graduate with a bachelor’s degree from Susquehanna in 2 years.
One of the most significant components of our agreements is that students attending two-year institutions can submit a “Letter of Intent,” which initiates a connect with one of our faculty members who will serve as an adviser to help the student make the best choices of coursework within their associate’s program to align with their intended baccalaureate degree at Susquehanna.
Susquehanna University has held student access and success at the core of its mission for 165 years. These partnerships will allow us to help even more students achieve their dreams of earning a bachelor’s degree, and more importantly receiving a transformative education.
