Ohio Wesleyan is part of a new consortium of independent colleges and universities working to create transfer pathways to help community college students earn four-year bachelor’s degrees. (Photo by Paul Vernon)

Transfer Pathways

Ohio Wesleyan Joins Consortium to Help Community College Students Earn Bachelor’s Degrees

DELAWARE, Ohio – Ohio Wesleyan University is part of a new consortium that will bring together 14 independent colleges and universities and 10 community colleges across Ohio to create pathways for community college students to earn four-year bachelor’s degrees in English, psychology, and biology.

The new “Ohio Consortium for Transfer Pathways to the Liberal Arts” is being created with leadership from The Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) and The Ohio Foundation of Independent Colleges (OFIC) and funded with a newly awarded grant from the Teagle Foundation and Arthur Vining Davis Foundations.

In announcing the grant, CIC President Richard Ekman said: “Private colleges and universities offer community college students a proven pathway to successfully completing bachelor’s degrees. CIC’s member institutions are proud to contribute to the national priority of increasing degree completion rates for students who begin their academic careers at community colleges.”

Project Director Winnie Gerhardt said the Ohio Consortium for Transfer Pathways to the Liberal Arts will build on a solid foundation for community college transfer in the state.

“A strength of the transfer landscape in Ohio is the commitment of community colleges to helping their students transition to baccalaureate degrees and the many individual partnerships and articulation agreements they have forged with independent colleges and universities to achieve this goal,” Gerhardt said.

To create the new consortium, CIC and OFIC will draw on the existing relationships and mutual trust among participating institutions to design clear, consistent pathways to a bachelor’s degree at any of the participating institutions. It will work to address current issues, including a need for comprehensive advising and for smoother credit transfer among the two- and four-year institutions.

Ohio Wesleyan is pleased to join the new consortium to continue to support community college students seeking to transfer to OWU to earn their bachelor’s degrees, said Provost Karlyn Crowley.

“We want the transfer process to be as seamless as possible for students and for them to be confident they will be able to thrive at Ohio Wesleyan and achieve their goals,” Crowley said.

Ohio Wesleyan already has an admission counselor dedicated to working with transfer students and a 2+2 program with Columbus State Community College that includes established pathways in 15 academic areas ranging from accounting to English to psychology.

Learn more about transferring to Ohio Wesleyan at owu.edu/transfer and more about the new Ohio Consortium for Transfer Pathways to the Liberal Arts, including a complete participant list, at www.ofic.org/news/transfer-pathways.

About CIC

The Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) is an association of more than 750 nonprofit independent colleges and universities, state-based councils of independent colleges, and other higher education affiliates, that works to support college and university leadership, advance institutional excellence, and enhance public understanding of independent higher education’s contributions to society. Founded in 1956, CIC is headquartered in Washington, D.C.

About OFIC

Ohio Foundation of Independent Colleges was founded in 1950 to conduct annual solicitations of companies and foundations to benefit private colleges in Ohio. OFIC today has 33 member institutions and 80,000 students. OFIC solicits financial support from corporate donors that believe strongly in higher education, connecting students with donors and empowering donors to design scholarships that have a direct impact on Ohio students, their local community, and their future employees.

About Ohio Wesleyan

Founded in 1842, Ohio Wesleyan University is one of the nation’s premier liberal arts universities. Located in Delaware, Ohio, the private university offers more than 70 undergraduate majors and competes in 24 NCAA Division III varsity sports. Through its signature program, The OWU Connection, Ohio Wesleyan teaches students to integrate knowledge across disciplines, build a diverse and global perspective, and apply knowledge in real-world settings. Ohio Wesleyan is featured in the book “Colleges That Change Lives” and included on the U.S. News & World Report and Princeton Review “best colleges” lists. Learn more at owu.edu.