Los Angeles Reverse Transfer Pilot

California systems of higher education have placed emphasis on degree completion and the importance of streamlined transfer pathways. While the state has placed a great emphasis on students completing an associate degree prior to transfer, many students do not. When these students stop out at the university level, they enter the workforce with no degree, which dramatically impacts ability to attain gainful employment as well as median incomes. Through a regional assessment of the Fall 2010 CSUN transfer cohort, 20.8% of those transferring without an associate degree, leave with no four-year degree and reap none of the benefits associated with degree attainment. This application proposes the development of the LA Reverse Transfer Pilot which will seek to ensure that students who have completed significant college coursework are awarded the degree that they deserve. The Pilot will occur in three phases. Phase 1 will develop the procedures and policies to create a regional reverse transfer program and will award degrees to students who had previously transferred from the community college system and have completed degree requirements. Phase 2 will develop pre-emptive consent processes that will streamline intersegmental data sharing to ensure that incoming transfer and freshman students allow university records to the community colleges. Phase 3 will evaluate the pilot as a proof of concept and develop a best practice model for use in districts throughout the state as well as recommendations for policy changes needed to implement statewide model similar to those launched throughout the nation.