Macomb Community College and Oakland University signed new transfer articulation agreements on Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2018 that are meant to benefit pre-social work, nursing and health-related students who plan to earn their bachelor’s degrees.  

MCC and OU are working together to make education and graduation easier for transfer students by providing these three articulation agreements.

“Those were, for the most part, some of the easiest ones to improve on and articulate,” said Matthew Zeig, OU transfer articulation coordinator. “Articulation can be a complicated process, there are a lot of people that are involved in the process.”

Transfer articulation agreements allow students to have more transferable credits depending on the associate degree. This way, students do not have to retake many courses or go to school for more semesters.

“Time, effort and money: those are the three things that I always say with articulation agreements,” Zeig said. “If a student were to follow program plans perfectly, they may never run into issues, but some of these agreements that we create are meant to capture students who may have changed their mind on what they want to do.”

The social work agreement is a three-year contract that will last through Nov. 30, 2021, and the nursing and health sciences agreement is a five-year contract that will last through Nov. 30, 2023.

Students earning an associate degree in Arts Pre-Social Work at MCC and transferring to OU can earn 72 credits from MCC and earn the other 52 credits to complete their bachelor’s degree in Social Work at OU.

“It’s important because it benefits students who are aspiring to come to Oakland and want to complete a degree in social work, health sciences and nursing.” said Dawn Aubry, director of Undergraduate Admissions. “The agreements facilitate efficient and seamless student transfer between both Macomb Community College and Oakland University.”

Students earning an associate degree in Applied Sciences Nursing at MCC and transferring to OU can earn 63 credits at MCC with a 30-credit reward for completing the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX-RN), ending up with a total of 93 credits. Then, students can earn the last 32 credits at OU to receive a Bachelor of Science in Nursing.

“Transfer students always want to know how many credits will transfer usually before they officially decide where to transfer to,” Aubry said. “It helps them avoid any kind of confusion and frustration if they need to secure financial aid, and it would, hopefully, reduce college education cost and shorten their time to graduation if they are planning in advance.”

Students earning an associate degree in Applied Science – Health Related at MCC and transferring to OU can earn 84 credits from MCC and continue at OU, only having to earn 40 more credits to complete a bachelor’s degree in Applied Health.

“I hope the agreements will attract more students to both Macomb Community College and Oakland University,” Aubry said. “And I hope that it will help us create an environment in Michigan where we have more college graduates.”

Zeig reported creating a smoother transition process for students establishes a sense of trust between OU and community colleges.

“It’s showing our community college partners that we care about their students, we care about the course work that they are teaching, and we respect the learning that the community college students are doing and making sure to apply it properly and use it,” he said.

For more information on applying, transferring credits and transferring to OU, visit OU’s transfer information page.