SHU Establishes Community College Transfer Tickets

Sacred Heart University is making it easier for community college students with associate degrees to transfer to the University and complete a bachelor’s degree.

SHU has created a guaranteed pathway with Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) for students transferring in from any Connecticut community college. Sacred Heart will receive these students who have completed certain associate degrees programs. The programs, called Transfer Tickets, ease the way for Connecticut Community College students to transfer to Connecticut State Universities and Charter Oak without losing any credits or having to take extra credits to complete a bachelor’s degree.

Now Sacred Heart is leading the way among the state’s private institutions by offering the same kind of opportunity to community college students. SHU has Transfer Tickets in place for psychology, biology, communications, media arts, English and history. The University plans to establish tickets in social work, finance, business economics and computer science, with more to follow. This new agreement will become part of the New England Board of Higher Education’s (NEBHE) New England Independent College Transfer Guarantee that is being developed in Connecticut in partnership with the Connecticut Conference of Independent Colleges (CCIC).

The Guarantee will improve community college students’ ability to successfully transfer to independent colleges and complete a bachelor’s degree, while mitigating loss of earned credit. To date, 54 independent institutions in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut have signed Intent to Participate letters. This includes 10 Connecticut independent institutions, including Sacred Heart, and all the state’s community colleges.

“The University revised its transfer policy years ago to make it one of the most accommodating in Connecticut,” said Rupendra Paliwal, Sacred Heart University’s provost and vice president for academic affairs. “This new agreement is an important step in ensuring that earning a degree from Sacred Heart is as accessible and simple as possible for community college graduates."

“NEBHE is pleased to see the leadership taken by Sacred Heart and CSCU in expanding high- quality options for community college graduates to earn a bachelor’s degree at an affordable price. The agreement will both benefit students and the Connecticut economy,” said Michael Thomas, president & CEO of NEBHE. “Many community college students in Connecticut have found independent institutions to be an accessible and affordable option for transfer to complete their bachelor’s degree in a timely manner. The work of Sacred Heart lays the groundwork for the development of the Guarantee in Connecticut. This will expand opportunities for more seamless transitions and allow even more transfer students to attend an institution in Connecticut that best meets their educational goals and increases their opportunity to succeed.”

Ken Klucznik, the transfer and articulation co-manager for CSCU, has been working with Sacred Heart faculty over the summer and is “excited about the work and very grateful that Sacred Heart is taking the lead in NEBHE’s transfer Guarantee initiative,” he said.