More Madison Area Technical College students could become four-year degree holders, thanks to an agreement announced Wednesday between UW-Madison and the two-year college.
Beginning fall 2006, adequately prepared MATC students can automatically, without doubt of admission, transfer to UW-Madison to complete their bachelor's degrees, UW-Madison Chancellor John Wiley and MATC President Bettsey Barhorst announced Wednesday morning.
MATC already does an exceptional job of preparing students to transfer to UW-Madison,\ Wiley said. ""Now, every student in the Liberal Arts Transfer Program at MATC will know exactly what's required for transfer at UW-Madison.""
Under the contract, UW-Madison will admit every student in MATC's Liberal Arts Transfer Program who completes 54 credits of general education classes equivalent to UW-Madison's introductory requirements and earns a 3.0 grade-point average in those classes.
The contract varies from an existing program, Connections, that requires MATC students to apply for transfer to UW-Madison before their coursework at MATC even begins.
""[Students] do not need uncertainty and anxiety about the college-transfer process or their transfer status, making the management of work, family and school even more challenging than it already is,"" Barhorst said.
Marjorie Cook, a former MATC student who completed her bachelor's and master's degrees at UW-Madison and is now working toward her doctorate in educational leadership and policy analysis in UW-Madison's School of Education, described her experiences as a non-traditional student.
""No one in my immediate family—and very few people in my very large extended family—even completed high school, and that's including myself,"" Cook said. ""But after my son was born and I got a little older, I realized I needed to get an education. And so I came to MATC.""
Cook's research for her doctorate now focuses on students attending two-year institutions, with a concentration on transfer students.
Wiley said the agreement would not disadvantage other junior and senior transfer students because there is generally more room in the upper-level classes.
UW-Madison also plans to launch similar programs with Nicolet Technical College in Rhinelander, Wis., and Milwaukee Area Technical College. According to Wiley, these programs will be finalized soon.
Wiley said he lauded the joint effort because 15 percent of UW-Madison's undergraduate population are transfer students, and 10 of those 15 percent come from MATC. He said the effort will diversify UW-Madison and bodes well for the state economy as more residents will receive bachelor's degrees.
\
