Five national foundations have announced that the Office of Community College Research and Leadership (OCCRL), a longstanding research center in the College of Education, has been named a grantee in a $6.4 million, multi-state initiative called “Credit When It’s Due: Recognizing the Value of the Quality Associate Degree." In addition to OCCRL, the funding will support expansion of programs in 12 states. OCCRL will receive a grant in the amount of $610,000, and two of the five supporting foundations, Lumina and The Bill & Melinda Gates foundations, will fund OCCRL to collect data on results of these scale-up activities in the states. OCCRL is directed by Debra Bragg, and its mission is to study policies, programs, and practices designed to enhance outcomes for diverse youth and adults who seek to transition to and through college to employment.

OCTOBER 10, 2012, LUMINA FOUNDATION (Luminafoundation.org) — Five national foundations announced the recipients of $6.4 million in grants supporting a multi-state initiative to help more students who have transferred from community colleges to four-year colleges and universities complete their associate degrees. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Helios Foundation, Kresge Foundation, Lumina Foundation, and USA Funds have joined forces in the initiative, “Credit When It’s Due: Recognizing the Value of the Quality Associate Degree.”

The initiative is designed to encourage partnerships of community colleges and universities to significantly expand programs that award associate degrees to transfer students when the student completes the requirements for the associate degree while pursuing a bachelor’s degree. This approach is commonly known as “reverse back” or “reverse transfer.” The funding will support expansion of programs in 12 states: Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Oregon. The projects were selected from a competitive grant proposal process.