By Marie Vassey
CCC Journalism Program
BLACKWOOD – October is Transfer Month at Camden County College. Students who plan to transfer to a four-year university are encouraged to seek advisement and attend visitations from local universities such as Rowan University and Thomas Jefferson University.
Students Rachel Varga (left) and Erica Durham (right) enter the academic advisement office to meet with advisors during Transfer Month at CCC. By Marie Vassey, CCC Journalism Program
Many community colleges, including CCC, have created articulation agreements with four-year universities to ensure a smooth transfer process for students. An articulation agreement is a legal document produced when two or more academic institutions follow a process leading to a partnership to provide a formalized pathway for student transfer.
Articulation agreements, lower tuition rates and an extra two years to figure out one’s desired career path are the main reasons students begin their studies at two-year institutions like CCC.
CCC student Jessica Bardolf says, “My major seems to change every other day.” Even though Bardolf was accepted to Widener University as a high school senior, she says she chose CCC because, “My money situation was very tight, plus I didn’t think I was ready to pick my things up and live away from my parents.”
Hilary Buck, a former CCC student who attends Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, had a similar motive for choosing to begin her studies at a community college. “I started at county to figure out what I wanted to do for the rest of my life,” she says, “and I didn’t want to waste a lot of money while figuring it out.”
Although CCC has articulation agreements in place and frequent visitations and workshops with other universities, some students still feel lost when beginning the transfer process. Bardolf, who has met with CCC advisors, says, “I have talked to a couple different advisors, but I feel the same way walking out as I did when I walked in.”
Buck, who completed the transfer process, recommends students begin by researching colleges and finding a good fit. More importantly, Buck says, “Be organized and time efficient with the application process.”
Transfer information, such as career planning tools, links to the common application used by many universities, and a list of all of the universities with which CCC has articulation agreements can be found on CCC’s website in the “Transfer Resources” section.