Doubling down on efforts to attract more transfer students, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee announced Tuesday that it has reached broad transfer agreements with the region’s four technical colleges.
Different than existing transfer arrangements, the new agreements reached with Milwaukee Area Technical College, Waukesha County Technical College, Gateway Technical College in Kenosha and Racine Counties, and Moraine Park Technical College in Washington, Fond du Lac and Dodge counties, essentially guarantee admission to UWM to associate degree graduates from the schools, allowing them to begin their journey towards a bachelor’s degree with 60 credits under their belt.
Beginning in summer 2024, students with an associate degree and at least a 2.0 grade point average from one of the participating technical colleges are guaranteed UWM admission as a bachelor’s degree-seeking student. While some UWM degree programs, such as engineering, have additional admissions requirements, admissions staff said Tuesday that students interested in pursuing degrees in those schools will be able to work with advisors early on in the process to ensure they fulfill those requirements before or after they are accepted as a UWM student.
Interested transfer students can apply for free and will only need to complete a brief intent form, rather than a lengthier, formal admission application, university leaders said.
“We believe that education should be accessible to all,” UWM Chancellor Mark Mone said. “Our goal is to ensure that every student with an associate degree from one of our partner colleges has the opportunity to continue their educational journey at UWM. These agreements reaffirm our commitment to student success and provide a clear path toward earning a bachelor’s degree.”
UWM has long had transfer pathways in place with many technical colleges, but these new agreements represent the most direct way for associate degree holders to work toward a UWM bachelor’s degree.
During a press conference and formal signing at UWM’s Lubar Entrepreneurship Center on Tuesday, leaders from the four universities, MATC president Vicki Martin, WCTC president Richard Barnhouse, Moraine Park Technical College president Bonnie Baerwald and Gateway Technical College president Ritu Raju, all praised the agreement for expanding educational opportunities to students.
“Our transfer degree programs, which include the associate of arts and associate of science, are among the most sought-after programs we offer at Milwaukee Area Technical College,” Martin said. “As the largest source of transfer students for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, MATC is proud to join our colleagues at our sister technical colleges in strengthening this transfer process by making it easier and increasing the credits allowed while also expanding transfer options for students in our career-oriented associate of applied science programs.”
UWM admissions counselors will meet with interested students to create a personalized plan for their guaranteed 60 transfer credits, a press release states. And, because UWM requires a minimum of 120 credits for bachelor’s degrees, most incoming associate degree holders will begin their UWM journey as juniors.
“We intentionally built our degree programs to give students options to progress from certificates to diplomas, then associate degrees. This partnership with UWM gives our students an additional step in that pathway,” Baerwald said.
In fall 2023, UWM welcomed 260 new transfer students from the four institutions, and that number is expected to grow with these new agreements. And students who transfer to UWM with an associate degree are more likely to graduate with a bachelor’s degree. That same year more than two-thirds of associate degree holders who transferred to UWM four years prior had graduated with a bachelor’s degree, the university said.
