CANTON, Mo. – Most people likely believe the typical college experience involves a student staying at one school for all four years, but not all college experiences are typical.
Many students first attend community colleges, where they receive an associate’s degree, and then seek to transfer into four-year colleges where they can finish their education and receive a bachelor’s degree. Federal data shows 49 percent of students who completed a degree at a four-year college in 2015-16 had previously enrolled in a two-year college.
However, studies have shown the associate-to-bachelor degree process typically takes much longer than four years.
A 2016 study by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center shows students who earned an associate’s degree took an average of 8.2 years to graduate with a bachelor’s degree, while students without an associate’s degree took 5.1.
Beginning with the 2019-20 academic year, Culver-Stockton College is offering a two-year transfer student graduation guarantee to students with associate’s degrees who want to finish their bachelor’s degree as quickly as possible. No other four-year institution within a 100-mile radius of Culver-Stockton offers such a guarantee.
“We know that transfer students are highly focused on the time it takes to complete their degrees, and we appreciate the impact this amount of time has on their financial needs,” said Lauren Schellenberger, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the College. “Earning a bachelor’s degree is life-changing, and changing lives is what we do best at C-SC. We are committed to helping students reach their goals as swiftly and as smoothly as possible.”
It’s easier for transfer students to finish their bachelor’s degree at Culver-Stockton than at most schools that offer a 2 + 2 program. A typical college’s 2 + 2 program mandates that a student earns a certificate or an Associate of Arts (AA) or Associate of Sciences (AS) degree in a specific field of study. If a student decides to change their major during their sophomore year, the 2 + 2 agreement typically no longer is an option.
A student with an AA/AS degree is automatically considered a junior at Culver-Stockton and qualifies for the two-year transfer student graduation guarantee. Regardless of what their major was for the first two years of college, those students can select from 14 of C-SC’s most popular majors – accountancy, art, business, English, finance, health science, healthcare management, history, international studies, marketing, music, political science, sport management and theater – and receive the two-year guarantee.
Contact the Office of Admission at 800-537-1883 or transfer@culver.edu to learn more about the two-year transfer student graduation guarantee.
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Contact the Marketing & Public Relations Office, at pr@culver.edu or 573-288-6000 ext. 6728 for more information.
NOTE: A number that appears immediately after a person’s name (i.e. Jane Doe ’18) is a reference to the year that person earned their bachelor’s degree from Culver-Stockton.