WEST virginia legislature
2025 regular session
Introduced
House Bill 3024
By Delegates Ellington, Statler, Toney, T. Clark, Willis, Mallow, Hornby, Ward, Barnhart, Stephens, and Shamblin
[Introduced February 27, 2025; referred to the Committee on Education]
A BILL to amend and reenact §18B-14-2 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to the guaranteed transfer of credit for courses completed in career pathways between high schools, career and technical education centers, community and technical colleges and baccalaureate institutions, establishing a statewide guaranteed transfer and articulation advisory committee; setting forth membership of the advisory committee; allowing for subcommittees; requiring the commission and the council to oversee the development of a statewide articulation and guaranteed transfer agreement and setting forth parameters therefore; requiring the commission and the council, in collaboration with the advisory committee, to develop, coordinate, and maintain guaranteed degree transfer pathways for selected baccalaureate programs and the parameters therefore; setting forth additional requirements for guaranteed statewide transfer pathways; and requiring the commission and council to propose rules for legislative approval.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
## ARTICLE 14. MISCELLANEOUS.
§18B-14-2. Transfer of credit for courses completed. Guaranteed transfer of credit for courses completed in career pathways between high schools, career and technical education centers, community and technical colleges and baccalaureate institutions.
(a) The Legislature finds that:
(1) The state has an increasing need for individuals with a postsecondary credential or degree;
(2) Post-secondary education institutions offering programs primarily below the baccalaureate level often are a more affordable option for students; and Over 40 percent of bachelor’s degree completers nationally attended more than one postsecondary institution, making student transfer a critical priority; and
(3) Implementing a seamless education system with uniform guaranteed transfer of credits among post-secondary institutions in the state would greatly benefit students by reducing costs and increasing degree completion rates.
(b) The commission and council jointly shall develop recommendations for implementing course credit transfer among private and public higher education institutions in the state. When developing policy regarding transfer affecting private institutions, the commission and council shall consult with at least two representatives from the private higher education institutions. The commission and council shall report the recommendations on public higher education institutions to the Legislative Oversight Commission on Education Accountability by December 1, 2015. The commission and council shall report the recommendations on private higher education institutions to the Legislative Oversight Commission on Education Accountability by December 1, 2017. The recommendations shall address the following:
(1) Providing a uniform method for transferring credit between institutions for a course successfully completed by a student if: Oversee the development, implementation, and maintenance of guaranteed statewide transfer pathways as provided herein;
(A) The course curriculum of the sending institution is at least seventy percent the same or similar to that of the receiving institution;
(B) The sending institution validates that the student successfully completed the course for which credit will be transferred; and
(C) The sending institution is accredited by a regional, national, programmatic or other accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education under the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended;
(2) Establishing a uniform method for each institution to provide clear and specific details of course content for each course it offers in a manner that allows a sending institution to determine: Develop statewide guaranteed transfer frameworks and agreements to govern the granting and transfer of credit awarded through completion of courses and through competency-based and prior learning assessments; and
(A) Whether its course is at least seventy percent the same or similar to the receiving institution; and if not,
(B) What changes to its course curriculum is needed to achieve the seventy percent level;
(3) Providing to the student and sending institution clear and specific details regarding: Establish an appeals process to resolve disagreements between transferring students and receiving institutions of higher education regarding the transfer and acceptance of credits earned at or awarded by another institution.
(A) Reasons that a receiving institution denies course credit transfer; and
(B) Additional information or actions, if any, necessary to permit the transfer; and
(4) Allowing a student to resubmit a course credit transfer request following denial.
(c) To effectuate the purposes of this section, the chancellors or their respective designees shall establish a statewide guaranteed transfer and articulation advisory committee, referred to in this section as the "advisory committee," and any necessary subcommittees. The advisory committee shall report to the chancellors or their respective designees, who may present its recommendations and decisions to the commission and the council for approval.
(1) The advisory committee shall consist of at least one representative from each of the state institutions of higher education as recommended by the institutional presidents and deemed appropriate and necessary by the chancellors or their respective designees. The chancellors or their respective designees shall appoint a chair or co-chairs from among the membership.
(2) Subcommittees may be formed on an ad hoc basis as deemed necessary by the chancellors or their respective designees to address specific topics or tasks related to guaranteed transfer and articulation.
(d) The commission and the council shall oversee the development of a statewide articulation and guaranteed transfer agreement, which shall, at a minimum:
(1) Guarantee the transfer of general education courses and common degree program prerequisites between and among public institutions;
(2) Guarantee the transfer of all courses contained in a transfer pathway as established in this section as credit in courses that satisfy general education or other specific program requirements;
(3) Guarantee that every graduate of a community and technical college awarded an associate degree that has been approved by the commission or the council for transfer to a public baccalaureate institution shall be deemed to have met all general education requirements and shall be granted admission to the upper division of any program offered by such public baccalaureate institution, unless a specific program has limited capacity or has audition or other specialized admissions requirements that are approved by the commission or council;
(4) Provide that graduates awarded an associate degree approved by the commission or council for guaranteed transfer and who transfer to a public baccalaureate institution shall not be required to take any additional general education courses to fulfill baccalaureate degree requirements;
(5) Provide that graduates awarded an associate degree approved by the commission or council for guaranteed transfer shall be automatically admitted to any public baccalaureate institution and given priority for enrollment over out-of-state students;
(6) Guarantee the statewide articulation of appropriate career and technical education programs, workforce development programs, and transfer of earned college-level course credits between secondary schools and community and technical colleges;
(7) Provide for acceptance by institutions of higher education of credits earned in accelerated programs such as dual enrollment and the Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, Cambridge Assessment, and College-Level Examination programs; and
(8) Provide for consistent acceptance by the public institutions of higher education of credits earned through competency-based education and prior learning assessments.
(e) The commission and the council, in collaboration with the advisory committee, shall develop, coordinate, and maintain guaranteed degree transfer pathways for selected baccalaureate programs, including those that are in demand across the state or prepare graduates for careers in industries such as nursing and hospitality/tourism, which programs shall be defined and identified by the commission and the council in consultation with the advisory committee. At a minimum, the guaranteed transfer pathways shall:
(1) Consist of 60 hours of instruction resulting in an associate degree that can be transferred and applied in full toward the requirements for a baccalaureate degree at a public baccalaureate institution;
(2) Include dual enrollment courses completed in high school or at a career and technical education center that are part of an approved guaranteed transfer pathway. The chancellors or their designees shall ensure these courses are recognized for college credit upon successful completion and shall apply to the student's approved program of study if the courses align with the student's chosen college major;
(3) Fulfill all general education requirements and any other lower-division requirements for graduation within the program offered at any public baccalaureate institution; and
(4) Include relevant industry credentials or other microcredentials that prepare students for specific jobs within selected in-demand and growing industries and that move individuals along a career pathway or up a career ladder, and which can be combined to meet the requirements of one or more related bachelor’s degree programs.
(f) A student who completes all of the requirements of a specific guaranteed transfer pathway, including approved dual enrollment courses completed during high school or at a career and technical education center, and who transfers to an associated program at a public baccalaureate institution shall not be required to complete more than the total credits required for the baccalaureate degree, less the 60 hours of credit earned in the guaranteed transfer pathway.
(g) The guaranteed transfer pathways approved by the commission and council shall be mandatory for all public institutions to accept and shall be recognized universally as guaranteed statewide transfer pathways. All courses included in the approved transfer pathways shall be accepted as meeting general education or program-specific requirements at the receiving institution.
(1) The commission and council may, upon the recommendation of the chancellors, approve exceptions to this requirement in cases where such arrangements would present a hardship to the institution, cause the institution to be in violation of standards established by regional or program-specific accrediting bodies, or for other good cause shown.
(h) The commission and council shall propose rules for legislative approval in accordance with the provisions of §18B-1-6 and §29A-3A-1 et seq. of this code to implement the provisions of this section.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide for a comprehensive system of articulation and transfer of credit between and among the state’s public institutions of higher education; to create and establish the duties of the statewide articulation and transfer advisory committee and its subcommittees; to mandate the acceptance of guaranteed statewide transfer pathways; to provide certain guarantees in the statewide articulation agreements; and to create and maintain degree transfer pathways, including those involving dual enrollment and career and technical education centers, that reduce the time and cost for students to earn a degree.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.