Online Toolkit Helps Students Chart Their Higher Education Experience
BOSTON – Senator Michael O. Moore (D-Millbury) announced that the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education recently launched an online portal to assist students with achieving their public higher education goals.
The new portal, known as “MassTransfer,” provides students with information about how to minimize the time it takes to earn a bachelor’s degree through a web toolkit presenting transfer options and cost saving opportunities of up to 49%. After years of development, the program represents a monumental step forward in establishing a system-wide set of course equivalencies between all twenty-eight public undergraduate campuses.
“Many students attend a community college for the first two years before transferring to a public university to attain their bachelor’s degree,” said Senator Moore, who serves as Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on Higher Education. “That was my path, and it made financial sense for me and my family. However, this process can be frustrating and costly since certain credits taken by students may not be accepted by the transferring institution. This forces students to retake classes, which is a waste of time and money. The new MassTransfer portal helps to alleviate and avoid the issue of non-transferring credits altogether.”
“With college costs identified as a chief barrier to college completion, we knew we needed a more seamless, efficient system to allow students to transfer from one campus to another and graduate in a more timely and cost-effective manner,” said Carlos E. Santiago, Commissioner of Higher Education. “The new MassTransfer portal provides all the information students need to complete their academic journey without delay and added debt. I think many students will be pleasantly surprised by the academic excellence, diversity of degree programs and affordability available at each of our public campuses.”
The MassTransfer portal also highlights opportunities through the Commonwealth Commitment program. This strategic initiative enables students who enroll full-time at one of the state’s 15 community colleges to transfer to a state university, or University of Massachusetts campus, and graduate with a bachelor’s degree in one of a number of select programs. Students who meet the program requirements will benefit from substantial savings including a freeze in tuition and mandatory fees, 10% per-semester rebates, and a full tuition credit in their last two years of school worth an average of $1,200.