Rep. Staneski Works to Financially Assist College Students

From CT House Republicans: To make it easier for students to transfer college credits inside the state university system, and between that system and the University of Connecticut, State Rep. Pam Staneski (Milford & Orange) helped steer through a proposal in the House of Representatives this week.

Rep. Pam Staneski, who is the lead Republican on the Higher Education and Employment Advancement committee, helped broker a bi-partisan compromise that simplifies the process to transfer college credits within Connecticut by enabling community college students to transfer more efficiently, consequently guaranteeing that students are not paying twice to retake similar college classes, and can graduate quicker with less student loan debt.

“It is about fundamental fairness for our state students. It seems quite unfair that a student should be forced to retake and repay for classes within the same state university system. The system needs to be looked at and to be rectified,” said Rep. Staneski. “This legislation has the ability to provide valuable tools to promote Connecticut's transfer and articulations agreements which would enable our students to properly plan their path through Connecticut's higher education system better.”

In addition to coordinating all credit transfer information in one central location, the current bill also mandates that incoming community college students be educated about the variety of transfer programs available. The bill also requires annual reporting of data surrounding Connecticut transfer programs so that progress can be measured by the General Assembly.

The Higher Education committee heard testimony at their public hearing that undergraduate transfer students lost an average of 12 credits, delayed graduation by one semester, and added $6,350 to their educational debt.

Photo courtesy of CT House Republicans