With classes starting up at colleges around Hampton Roads, students of the second largest community college in the Commonwealth will have new pathways to a 4-year degree.
Tidewater Community College this summer entered into deals with Norfolk State University and Christopher Newport University that guarantee TCC students admission if they meet certain academic requirements.
The strategic partnerships come as community colleges nationally reported the highest growth rate within higher education, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.
TCC’s partnership with Norfolk State creates what the institutions are calling the “Passport Program.” It’s open to TCC students if they earn 16 credits at the community college level and maintain a 2.0 grade point average.
“This partnership allows us to provide access, opportunity and a phenomenal education experience to students that is focused on their success and growth,” Norfolk State University President Javaune Adams-Gaston said.
TCC President Marcia Conston said the institution is proud to continue collaborating with Norfolk State.
“The Passport Program is an additional opportunity for students in Hampton Roads to benefit from our shared interest of success in higher education throughout our region,” Conston said.
The program is similar to one signed by Christopher Newport University and Virginia Peninsula Community College earlier this year, called the VPCC Bridge to CNU program.
More recently, Christopher Newport University entered into its own agreement with TCC. Like previous deals that guarantee admission to transfer students, the new CNU Ready program requires they maintain a 2.5 grade point average to qualify.
Lisa Duncan Raines, vice president for enrollment and student success at Christopher Newport, told WHRO the arrangement makes perfect sense for the university.
“We already recruit students from Tidewater Community College,” Duncan Raines said. “It occurred to us [this partnership] might ease that transition for those students and might get them thinking about what a liberal arts education could mean for their future.”
Also different in the CNU Ready program is the possibility to reverse-transfer course credits.
“A student after they transfer to CNU – even if it’s before they got their associate degree – [can] transfer those credits back to the community college so they can still earn their associate while also working on their bachelor’s degree,” Duncan Raines said. “They’ll come out with two credentials.”
Each of the deals allows community college students to access advising at the university level, and to events and services in an effort to integrate prospective transfers into the campus community.
“There’s an amazing community on this campus,” Duncan Raines said. “Involvement with this culture and this community can really serve students well.”
Duncan Raines said Christopher Newport University isn’t done exploring new partnerships, either. She said conversations are ongoing with more schools on program-specific transfer programs, which could be announced within the year.
A note of transparency: TCC President Marcia Conston serves on the WHRO board.
Produced with assistance from the Public Media Journalists Association Editor Corps funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.
