Eastern Michigan University signs reverse transfer agreement with Washtenaw Community College

The agreement will apply to students within 15 credits of graduation at WCC when they transferred. The university will send out emails to these students asking if they want their EMU transcript sent back to WCC free of charge to be used toward completing their associate degree.

EMU has 7,937 students enrolled for the fall 2012 semester that transferred from community colleges throughout the state of Michigan.

Of that number, 2,485 are from WCC, which equates to 31 percent of the overall number.

University officials believe that community college student transfers can miss out on an opportunity to include a “significant achievement” on their resumes when they don’t complete their associate degree.

"If a student is not able to complete their bachelor's degree for some reason, obtaining the associate degree credential becomes even more critical," said Patricia Cygnar, director of community college relations at EMU, in a statement.

EMU and WCC have more than 20 program articulation agreements in place and the two institutions began collaborating on the reverse agreement Iast year.

A new statewide mandate recently went into effect requiring all public universities to have at least three reverse transfer agreements in place by January 2013.

Cygnar said both schools were interested in furthering their relationship and the partnership will be convenient for students. EMU currently is discussing agreements with other community colleges.