http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/Americas/2009/July/Understanding-Obama-s-Community-College-Makeover.html

That’s such a catch-22 situation. Some four-year schools do give transfer preference to students coming in from community colleges. When I was an undergrad, I tried to transfer from a Cal State school to a UC school, and trying to switch from one California university system to another was fraught with ridiculous amount of red tape. I was told (by the UC school) to leave the Cal State school and spend a year at a community college working on my sophomore year general ed stuff, while working with the UC transfer advisor at the community college. I jumped through all of their hoops and did get in to the UC school. But it felt bizarre to have gotten into a good university right out of high school, and then to take half a step backwards and attend a community college (which I could have done in the first place right out of high school and saved myself and my parents a lot of time, energy and money). It all worked out in the end, and sometimes you just have no idea where you’re going to want to end up until you’re further on down the road.

My advice would be to ask any and all of the schools you’re planning on trying to transfer to what they would advise you to do. They’ll hopefully be up front about their transfer policies, and will let you know which route will give you the best chances of being accepted as a transfer student (through a two-year institution or through a four-year institution). And, as a red-tape veteran, I would strongly urge you to always get the same question answered by two different people, and have them sign something (even a little note stating what they’ve told you). I spent an entire semester taking courses that one woamn told me I absolutely HAD to take, only to be told later (by another advosor at the same school) that I’d wasted my time and money and I should have been taking an entirely different collection of classes. That was a really great day. Only by quelling my rage did I stop myself from knocking their cubicles over.

From then on I got things in writing by saying, “Could you please write a list of what I need to do and sign it please, in case anyone questions me later on down the line?” Having my little scraps of priceless, signed notes from people with nameplates turned out to be one of the better life skills I learned in college. Good luck!

Alexa

In answer to your questions, only accredited schools award actual degrees. In order to find out the accreditation status of a particular school, you can go to the U.S. Dept. of Education’s accreditation Web site and search for the school in question. If the school isn’t listed, then it isn’t accredited, and the degree won’t mean much. Here’s the address:

http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/

As far as the transferability of credits, it depends on the school you’re transferring from (it has to be an accredited institution), and the school you’re hoping to transfer into (they have the last say on which credits they’ll accept and how many they will accept). I have had to re-take chemistry and math courses, for example, because the UC system didn’t want to accept the credits I earned at a Cal State school. One would think that chemistry and math are fairly universal, and would therefore be transferable, but there you go. I was in no position to argue, so re-take the courses I did.

To find out which credits will transfer, you’ll have to speak with an admissions officer at the school you’re hoping to transfer into.

I understand that the deluge of “colleges” showing up on TV and promising career education can be overwhelming. A lot of the schools are the education version of ambulance-chasing lawyers. Fortunately, it’s easy to check the accreditation status, which is the first thing you should always research about any potential school (for you or your niece). Take care,

Alexa