Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

PCC and PSU Sign Pact to Co-Enroll Students

Photos and story by James Hill

The presidents of Oregon’s two largest colleges signed an agreement on Nov. 1, 2000, allowing students to enroll in both schools with one application. The schools believe the new arrangement will give students more choices and a clearer path to higher education. The signing ceremony in November is PCC’s third such dual admissions and enrollment agreement. Previously, the college formed agreements with Oregon State and the Oregon Institute of Technology. Students pay each schools’ respective tuition rate. Since the program announcement in November, approximately 85 PCC students have applied, said Dennis Bailey-Fougnier, a PCC admissions coordinator. "And we expect many more as the year proceeds,"he added. One student who is happy about the new partnership is 23-year-old Joel Campos-Alvis, a southeast Portland resident and special education major, who also completed his high school studies at PCC. Campos-Alvis said, "I’m both (a PCC and PSU student), as of winter 2001 for the co-admission. It is convenient, it is economical and will make it possible to continue working full time while going to both schools."Alvis-Campos said now he won’t have to worry that his credits aren’t transferring, or do the paperwork for a new transcript each time he takes a class at one school or the other. In addition, his scholarships at both schools require full-time student status, but because he was going part-time to both schools, his funding was in jeopardy. "Because of the new program I will be able to continue my scholarships."PCC President Dan Moriarty echoes these sentiments. "This agreement with PSU is very positive for our students and for PSU students. It gives greater flexibility and more security to students who already travel between both schools in pursuit of their bachelor’s degree. The arrangement will also benefit high school students who will be able to envision a clearer path to higher education."Daniel Bernstine, president of PSU, also sees the benefits. "This agreement sends a strong message to PCC students that we want them to transfer to PSU and that when they come they’ll have a good experience."The partnership is part of a trend in higher education to build better relationships between two- and four-year schools.Research by college officials at PSU and PCC point to the complex nature of student attendance and transfer patterns. The researchers looked at 504 student records for students who attended PCC and PSU and also Mt. Hood and Clackamas community colleges. Two-thirds of the students did not follow a neat one-way pattern from the two-year to four-year institution. Instead, they found 48 separate patterns of movement, including stopping, attending several institutions at the same time, moving to a four-year school and then moving back to the community college, moving to other states and then moving back. Linda Reisser, dean of student development at the Cascade Campus and on the team to put together the co-admissions agreement, said the research reinforces that "students need clear maps for navigating through higher education, and they need helpful guides who make it easy to get information, get assistance and cut through the maze of red tape.""This gives students a safety net,"said Craig Bell, dean of students at PCC’s Sylvania Campus and also on the co-admissions team. "Students do not always maintain a continuum due to work or family responsibilities. Now if they drop out, come back, take a class at PCC one term, at PSU the next, they do not have to re-apply for up to one year and their credits will be there, in the system."In 1999, 2,230 PCC students transferred to PSU. Admissions coordinators expect the number to climb with the new program. Portland Community College is the largest post-secondary school in the state, serving 97,000 part- and full-time students annually in a wide variety of programs. Portland State University serves more students than any other Oregon university, approximately 33,000 students annually, and offers more than 100 undergraduate, master’s and doctoral degrees.