Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
- Utah Valley University and Salt Lake Community College are signing an agreement to establish a pathway toward bachelor's degrees for more Utah students.
- The agreement guarantees SLCC graduates with an associate degree direct admission to UVU.
- Financial incentives and international student support are also included in the partnership.
OREM — Utah Valley University and Salt Lake Community College are set to sign a memorandum of understanding on Wednesday to establish a pathway toward bachelor's degrees for more Utah students.
The partnership aims to facilitate a smooth transition between the schools by guaranteeing automatic admission to UVU for students who have completed an associate degree at SLCC.
"What we wanted to try and do was help students to know that they have an affordable, easy-to-access option if they want to continue a four-year degree," said Andrew Stone, UVU's associate vice president of enrollment management.
Stone said that while the SLCC to UVU pipeline is already strong, the two institutions want to ensure a streamlined process and pathway through higher education.
Through the partnership, once an SLCC student reaches their last semester, they will have the option to fill out a brief questionnaire before receiving an acceptance letter to UVU.
"(We) let them know that we're here to help them and give them a direct point of contact in our transfer office, so that they know they've got a spot and we're here to help them to be successful," Stone said.
The partnership also comes with financial incentives for students.
For students who are already on scholarship at SLCC, Stone said in most cases, those will continue to be offered at UVU "in some form."
It will also help students who may have underachieved in high school before turning it around later in their educational journeys — like Stone himself.
"Maybe their incoming high school credentials weren't as strong as they as they're demonstrating now in college, and so that transfer scholarship now is available to them in a way that it might not have been straight out of high school. I'm one of those students ... and that represents many of our students," Stone said. "Once they get a semester or two in, they recognize they're capable of achieving high grades and doing very well, and we want to make sure that they know that we will consider them for one of those scholarships."
Additionally, the partnership will also extend its benefits to international students, particularly in navigating the visa process.
Stone said the two institutions are creating a connection between their respective international student services offices to help SLCC graduates wanting to transition to UVU complete that process.
"We see ourselves (SLCC and UVU) by proximity, as partners that can link arms in a lot of ways, and this is probably the first of many ways that we can do that," Stone said. "That partnership, I think, will open opportunities for four-year degrees to students in a pretty meaningful way."
