SPRINGDALE — Students at Northwest Technical Institute may soon be able to transfer course credits toward an associate degree at NorthWest Arkansas Community College, if an agreement in the works is approved.
“We’re close,” said George Burch, president of the vocational school. “I don’t want to call it a done deal, but it looks good.”
Tech school officials have met with community college officials, and both schools are on board with the plan, said Keith Peterson, director of instruction at NTI.
AT A GLANCE
Northwest Technical Institute Programs
The Springdale-based vocational school offers post-high school certification programs in a variety of fields. School officials are working with NorthWest Arkansas Community College in Bentonville to implement a transfer agreement where classes at the technical school would count toward an associate degree from the community college. A look at programs available at Northwest Technical Institute:
Ammonia refrigeration maintenance technology
Automotive service technology
Collision repair technology
Architectural drafting technology
Computer information systems
Diesel and truck technology
Electronics technology
Industrial maintenance technology
Machine tool technology
Practical nursing
Surgical technology
Truck driving
Source: Northwest Technical Institute
The proposal needs state-level approvals, likely from the Arkansas Higher Education Coordinating Board, Peterson said.
The plan would make credits earned through any of the technical school’s post-secondary programs transferable to the community college, Peterson said. Most of the certificate- or diploma-level programs at NTI require 17 or 18 credit hours for completion, or almost a third of the 60 hours required for most associate degrees.
The credits wouldn’t be program-specific, meaning a student who took introductory classes in several programs at the vocational school could transfer all of his credits, Peterson said.
Community college officials with direct knowledge of the plan were unavailable Wednesday, said Debbie Miller, a communications specialist at the college.
A few program-specific courses at Northwest Technical Institute already qualify for transfer credit to NorthWest Arkansas Community College.
The move could also open up new financial aid opportunities for the about 300 postsecondary students at the technical school, Burch said.
“Getting them in a degree-track program really increases their access to aid,” he said.
Students at Northwest Technical Institute — and at Pulaski Technical Institute in Forrest City — don’t qualify for many of the traditional sources of higher education aid because the state considers technical schools career and workforce education, rather than higher education. Vocational schools in other parts of the state are integrated within community college structures, and don’t have the same limitations.
Staff members at the Arkansas Department of Higher Education couldn’t determine Wednesday if the proposal had been submitted to the department, said Brandi Hinkle, a department spokeswoman.
Northwest Technical Institute is also working toward an agreement with North Arkansas Community College in Harrison where NTI courses could be transferred as base courses, counting toward higher-level certificates offered at NorthArk, Peterson said. That agreement applies only to the automotive service technician, machine tool technician and industrial maintenance technician programs.