MANCHESTER TOWNSHIP, YORK COUNTY, Pa.-- Two-year college students who try save money on tuition often find out that they lose out credits when transferring to a university.
One local community college is trying to make the transfer process a lot smoother.
Penn State University's York Campus is one place where college transfer students may want to eventually earn their bachelors degree.
Administrators at HACC, Central Pennsylvania's Community College, worked out a deal with the university to make the road to get there a little less stressful.
Students at HACC with plans of transferring to a university may often wonder if their credits will transfer as well.
HACC student Rebecca Paulis said "I don't want to sit here and waste my time, like I can take elective classes, I don't want to take elective classes that I know won't transfer, then there's no point in wasting time and money."
Administrators at HACC recently reached an agreement with Penn State University's York and Mont Alto campuses to remove that doubt.
HACC associate provost for academic affairs Dr. Kathleen Doherty said "students can be guaranteed when they start here at HACC, they have the information that these courses will count, and will count towards both their associate at HACC, as well as their bachelors degree at Penn State."
A semester at HACC can run in-state students more than $3,000, while classes at Penn State University cost nearly $18,000, or about $6,500 at the York campus.
"A lot of my friends came here straight out of high school and ended up transferring to universities, afterwards because it was a lot cheaper," Paulis said.
"They can come to the first two years at HACC, get a quality education, transfer seamlessly into Penn State Mont Alto or Penn State York, and at the end, have a bachelor degree from Penn State," Dr. Doherty said.
Credits from general education classes and ten majors are eligible for transfer from HACC.
"Just meet with their adviser at HACC campus, and ask for the information about the agreement so that they know the courses, they have the information as they plan their schedules here with us at HACC," Dr. Doherty said.
"I went to a culinary school first, and then ended up transferring here, and decided to just do my 'gen ed' and try to figure out if I did want to go back for a bachelors or not," Paulis said.
The transfer agreement goes into effect immediately, so HACC students arriving this fall, with eyes on Penn State York or Penn State Mont Alto can still stay close to home to get their degree.