Membership

Interstate Passport serves students. It is that simple. The common sense Interstate Passport is long overdue and its implementation will be one of the most impactful reforms higher education has seen in decades.

I am excited about the Interstate Passport because I believe it will reduce the number of credits transfer students need to retake, which will increase their likelihood for degree completion. This program is close to my heart because it’s dedicated to student success!

The process of developing the learning outcomes in each knowledge and skill area—something that was done by faculty from institutions in multiple Western states —is truly an integral part of the Interstate Passport itself. We were very concerned with ensuring academic rigor throughout, and put a significant amount of energy and enthusiasm into the work.

Interstate Passport is another tool colleges and universities can use across state lines to help students bring meaningful building blocks for their degrees with them. The potential for assisting mobile students in completing their degrees without losing credit as they transfer is just beginning to be tapped through the Interstate Passport.

The Interstate Passport program’s streamlined transfer process will allow our students to complete their education faster with less debt, and lower foregone earnings from unduplicated learning. It will increase successful transfer and completion for our students.

Time and again we hear about students whose academic progress is slowed or halted because of transfer barriers and their associated costs. Interstate Passport will help transfer students, especially first-generation students, low-income students, and members of the military and their dependents, who are in need of seamless transfer solutions.

When even one student is saved from falling through the cracks (dropping out in frustration), the value of the Passport is clear to me. Perhaps more importantly, the Passport puts – front and center – a focus on faculty-validated assessment of student learning outcomes. It credits student acquisition of core general education competencies as students move between institutions. That’s exactly where the focus should be.

Interstate Passport has created a nationwide framework for college general education that is based on faculty-developed learning outcomes and proficiency criteria. Students are given the opportunity to engage in a quality educational experience that is both affordable and portable between institutions. This means that less time and money is wasted, as students no longer take redundant coursework that doesn't transfer efficiently! Fantastic option for Western Oregon University students!

These are not my students, nor your students, but our students. Together we can fix transfer.

Interstate Passport is an innovative contribution to the development of America’s 21st-century workforce. Individual transfer students and families benefit as they spend less time and less money completing their education when they do not repeat learning already achieved. Society benefits as more individuals gain the critical skills needed to drive the economy forward. It’s a win-win for everyone.