UK Student Helps Launch KnowHow2Transfer Website

FRANKFORT, Ky, (June 7, 2012) ― The Council on Postsecondary Education and the state’s public colleges and universities launched KnowHow2Transfer.org, a statewide transfer website that provides Kentucky Community and Technical College students with a clear roadmap to transfer planning.

“This website basically takes the guesswork out of transfer by showing students how their general education and pre-major courses will transfer and count as credit to any public four-year institution in Kentucky,” said council President Bob King.

By taking only the courses they need, students will have a quicker time to degree, which will save them time and money.

“In an era of tight finances, we want to help Kentuckians obtain a higher level of learning and training in the quickest, most efficient way possible, and this website is a new tool to help us with this goal,” Lt. Gov. Jerry Abramson said.

Last year, 8,707 students from the Kentucky Community and Technical College System transferred to either a public four-year institution or an institution within the Association of Independent Kentucky Colleges and Universities. State and campus officials hope to increase the number of students who transfer and graduate with a four-year degree as part of state efforts to raise four-year-degree attainment in Kentucky.

The website is an outgrowth of 2010 transfer legislation known as House Bill 160, sponsored by Representative Carl Rollins.

“I want to thank the faculty and administrators at our public colleges and universities who have put a tremendous amount of work into making HB 160 a reality," Rollins said. "All of this effort makes it possible for students to start their postsecondary education at a Kentucky community college and transfer to a four-year university without losing course credits. The online availability of transfer information will allow our students and families to save money during the first two years of college and still have a clearly defined path to a bachelor’s degree.”

Emily Conder, a transfer student from Bluegrass Community and Technical College in Lexington and now a junior at the University of Kentucky, said the website is a “crucial” tool for transfer students and said she was excited for the opportunities that KCTCS students now have.

“For community college students who are actively pursuing a degree upon transfer at a four-year college in the state, this website is gold,” said Conder, a communication disorders and Spanish major who spoke at the launch.

Students can use the website to develop a transfer plan, find institutional transfer scholarships and locate the transfer adviser at their chosen four-year institution.

Another important feature is that students can view how their courses count toward degree programs in biology, business, social work, nursing and elementary education. Campuses are working to load more degree programs in the system and will be doing so on a continual basis until all are added.

State law requires key transfer developments to ease student transfer between institutions effective this fall, including:

• Transferability of general education -- Guarantees all six categories of general education courses will be accepted for transfer and degree credit, whether earned as individual courses or within multi-course blocks of gen ed.
•  Junior-level standing -- Guarantees that graduates of an approved associate degree program will be admitted to junior-level standing at all public four-year institutions.
• Priority admission -- Guarantees graduates of an approved associate degree priority admission to a state public university over out-of-state students if they meet the same admission criteria.
• Transparency of transfer decisions – Calls for an electronic means to view and monitor course equivalencies and find information. (KnowHow2Transfer.org)
•  Credit outside the classroom -- Identifies courses and standard scores for awarding credit for AP and CLEP exams based on the new Kentucky Standard Acceptable Scores for National Exams Table.
•  Appeals process -- Establishes an appeals process regarding the transfer and acceptance of credits earned at another institution.
•  Degree pathways – Outlines semester-by-semester maps of courses that show the most efficient path to the major.
• Common course numbering -- Establishes a new statewide course numbering system for general education at KCTCS and a common catalog.
•  Checks and balances -- Requires institutions to notify CPE of any changes in programs or learning outcomes that will affect transferability.
•  Reduction of degree requirements – Encourages institutions to lower most degree requirements to 60 credit hours for an associate degree and 120 for a baccalaureate.

MEDIA CONTACT:  Sue Patrick, Council on Postsecondary Education, 502-573-1555