News from the U.S. House of Representatives

News from U.S. House Education & the Workforce Committee

Plan to Ease College Credit Mobility for Students Gains New Support

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Government Accountability Office (GAO) today issued a report recommending that Congress take steps to improve college credit mobility as proposed in the College Access & Opportunity Act (H.R. 609), a bill to expand college access for low- and middle-income students approved earlier this year by the Education & the Workforce Committee.

"With an increasingly mobile student population and growing numbers of non-traditional students pursuing higher education for the first time, or returning to school to complete their education, it has become more important than ever to ensure that college students are free to transfer from one institution to another without unfairly losing credit for quality courses they have completed," said Education & the Workforce Committee Chairman John Boehner (R-OH).

"The GAO report confirms what Republican lawmakers have been saying all along - there must be greater flexibility and fairness in the transfer of credit process," said Rep. Howard P. "Buck" McKeon (R-CA), chairman of the 21st Century Competitiveness Subcommittee. "All too often, students are forced to repeat coursework and extend time to completion because their campus refuses to honor credits earned at another institution. That is unacceptable, and I urge my colleagues to carefully consider the recommendations in this report."

"It's important that we give students some assurances that they will not have to repeat classes they have already taken when transferring to another school, and to provide them help to find out where their credits will be accepted. The provisions included in the Higher Education Amendments Act will help students avoid lost credits and also will reduce costs to the federal government by helping more transferring students graduate on time," said Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Mike Enzi (R-WY).

The GAO report recommends that Congress amend the Higher Education Act to ensure academic credits are not denied based on the accreditation of the institution where the credits were earned. This proposal is included in legislation offered in both the House and the Senate to ease college credit mobility through the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. The report notes that states and accrediting bodies have taken steps to facilitate credit transfer and ease the process for students, a finding that was also examined earlier this year during a hearing on college credit mobility before the 21st Century Competitiveness Subcommittee.

"Because thousands of students transfer each year from one postsecondary institution to another, the credit transfer process, to the extent that it delays students' progress, can affect the affordability of postsecondary education and the time it takes students to graduate," the report found.

"[I]t is in the federal government's interest to ensure that students receiving assistance through federal aid programs, who have earned credits at an approved accredited institution, do not have to repeat coursework when transferring to another institution meeting the same standards. However, some institutions continue to deny credits from institutions with national accreditation without reviewing student coursework despite the fact that these institutions are accredited by federally recognized national accrediting bodies. Consequently, qualified students could be denied credit for comparable coursework, leading them to incur further educational costs that they may need to offset with additional federal financial aid," the report concluded.