BENTONVILLE — A small Christian college in Springdale hopes to get a boost from a credit transfer policy it is working out with NorthWest Arkansas Community College.
Ecclesia College recently announced it had signed an agreement that allows students who complete certain programs at the community college to transfer those credits to Ecclesia.
At A Glance
Work College
Ecclesia College is a member of the Work Colleges Consortium, a group of seven small liberal arts colleges in six states that emphasizes learning through job experiences. College of the Ozarks, located near Branson, Mo., is another member.
All students attending Ecclesia are required to work an average of 15 hours per week, with most of their compensation going toward their tuition. The average Ecclesia student graduates with student debt of less than $6,000, the lowest of any four-year college in Arkansas, according to Ecclesia.
Source: Staff Report
Steven Hinds, director of public relations and marketing at the community college, said the agreement hasn't been finalized.
"We've been holding off on having some sort of official announcement because there are a couple of words within the agreement people have since realized need to be clarified," Hinds said.
Students who complete an associate of science degree at the community college with an emphasis in either business or sport management will be able to complete a bachelor of science in business administration or sport management at Ecclesia, according to a news release from Ecclesia. Ecclesia would award semester hour credits equal to the hours required to complete an associate's degree at the community college. But the community college doesn't offer an associate's degree in sport management.
"That is one of the pieces in the agreement that has to be changed," Hinds said.
Also, community college students get an associate of arts -- not of science -- in business.
The agreement should be finalized within the next two months and take effect this spring, Hinds said.
Ecclesia, which is on 200 acres in northwest Springdale, enrolled 27 students in 2005, the year it first received accreditation. It now has 260 students. About 40 percent of the students come from Northwest Arkansas, said Oren Paris III, the school's president.
The school offers associate, bachelor and online degrees. Ecclesia is excited about the agreement with the community college, Paris said.
"It helps us grow, and the reason for our existence is to serve our students in the area," he said. "It's good to have this agreement where it makes it easier for students to move from one (school) to another."
Paris said he wasn't sure how many of Ecclesia's students come from the community college. "It's a handful," he said.
The community college has an enrollment of 7,546 this semester.
This is not the first collaborative agreement the community college has arranged with other schools. It signed a "reverse transfer" agreement with the University of Arkansas in 2012 that allows eligible students who transfer to the university with at least 24 credit hours to earn an associate's degree from the community college by completing at least 12 more hours of required courses at the university. Students must earn at least 60 hours total. The community college credit hours also can be used toward completing the student's bachelor's degree at the university.
NW News on 03/03/2014