Nursing Education Transfer

In 2012, Massachusetts received a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to advance the work of increasing the percentage of the RN workforce who hold a BSN or above. As part of this initiative, the Department of Higher Education established the Nursing Education Transfer Compact (NETC) Working Group to create a seamless, cost effective, timely and transparent pathway for students to progress from community college Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) programs to the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree at a state university or UMass. Their recommendations formed the PDF Nursing Education Transfer Compact, which was approved by the Board of Higher Education in January 2014. After the one year implementation period of further refinement at the campus level, the following nursing education transfer policy was finalized in March 2015, with the expectation that full implementation should occur at all public institutions no later than Academic Year 2015-16:

Executive Summary

(Download the PDF Executive Summary)

Goals:

Key Attributes:

* Credits earned in a BORN-approved public ADN program offered at an institution of higher education will be transferred as a block, without a time restriction except for the 4-year public institution’s policy on time limits for specific courses, i.e. sciences.
** Baccalaureate institutions may also substitute their own general education requirements for the MassTransfer General Education Block, if doing so will facilitate a more timely completion of the BSN degree.

Information Sharing:

The Massachusetts public higher education institutions agree to share information about participating students as set forth in this Section, to the extent permissible under appropriate statutes, regulations and institutional policies regarding confidentiality of student records. This exchange of information allows institutions to provide students with the broadest range of academic choices and support services, thereby creating an environment conducive to academic success.

  1. To the extent permissible under applicable law, the Massachusetts community colleges, upon request, agree to provide the state universities and the UMass campuses with directory information, as defined by the respective community college, such as names, addresses, and majors for participating students enrolled on their campuses.
  2. To the extent permissible under applicable law, the state universities and the UMass campuses agree to provide non-identifying student information on nursing transfer students such as graduation and retention rates, grade point averages, and academic majors and degree programs upon request from the community colleges. Any release of such information shall not, directly or indirectly, transmit personally identifying information about any student who has not granted permission for participating institutions to share such information.
  3. Each state university and University of Massachusetts campus agrees to provide freshman applicants not offered admission with information on the nursing education transfer system if the applicant is potentially suitable for participation. The state universities and UMass campuses will provide the appropriate community college(s) with names and addresses of all such applicants who grant permission for the release of this information.

In order to encourage students who are academically suspended, or who otherwise leave the state university or University of Massachusetts campus while not in good academic standing to consider educational opportunities at the community colleges, the state universities and UMass campuses agree to undertake reasonable efforts to provide community colleges with the names, addresses and other pertinent academic records of such students who grant permission for the release of this information.

Further Understandings:

Notwithstanding any provision of this policy, the Nursing Education Transfer policy does not:

  1. Preclude community colleges or the state universities or the UMass campuses from entering into similar agreements with other institutions of higher education.
  2. Prevent the state universities or UMass from admitting community college students through existing admission processes.
  3. Limit a state university or UMass campus from eliminating a school, department or degree program.
  4. Ensure eligibility for federal, state, or institutional financial assistance.
  5. Provide any guarantees or representations regarding tuition rates or fees at the
  6. Prohibit baccalaureate institutions from substituting their own general education requirements for the MassTransfer General Education Block, if doing so will facilitate more timely completion of the BSN degree.
Meetings & Events

Apr 22

Executive Committee Meeting

Apr 25

Student Advisory Council Meeting and Elections

Apr 30

Board of Higher Education Meeting

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