The College of DuPage and Northern Illinois University have signed into effect a reverse transfer agreement that will give students the opportunity to earn their associate’s degree while at a four-year institution. This is the first reverse transfer agreement COD has officially signed into effect in the history of the college.

A reverse transfer is where a former student of COD, who did not finish his or her associate’s degree before the student transferred to a four-year institution, is allowed to complete the necessary credits to earn this two-year degree while at the new school. In operation, a student who transfers to NIU from COD who has met the requisite credits for an associate’s degree will have their credits transferred back to COD. After this is processed, the student will be notified by COD that they have been awarded an associate’s.

Vice President of Student Affairs Earl Dowling understands some students want to transfer out of COD to achieve their bigger goal of earning a bachelor’s degree, and wants them to have the opportunity to have more certification under their belt for when they look for a job after college.

“We want students to have our credential,” said Dowling. “Some students, quite frankly, want that four-year degree hanging on their wall. However, we believe two things. One, you started with us, and we want you to finish with us, but, two, I think the more credentials a person has the better off they’ll be. This was affirmed by one of our deans who gave the example of a student coming to College of DuPage in a technical field and then goes off to the four-year school and ends up with a bachelor’s in management, for example. Having the management education and the technical skills makes a very nice package for an employer.

“We want to make sure that if any of our students want to do that, then we have these agreements with Northern Illinois University or other schools,” said Dowling.

The agreement backlogs students who transferred from COD to NIU up to fall of 2015. This means, many students at NIU are already eligible to receive an associate’s degree.

Based on information from Associate Registrar of the Office of Student Records Katherine Thomson, there were 277 students who transferred to NIU from COD last year. This means that former COD students who meet the required credits for an associate’s are now eligible to have their NIU credits reverse transferred back to COD and receive a two-year degree.