Delaware County Community College & West Chester University Strengthen Existing Forces To Bolster Student Success

Press release from West Chester University:

November 17, 2020

Already 245 current students at Delaware County Community College will benefit from
the enhanced dual admission program. On average, one out of every three transfer students
to West Chester University hails from Delaware County Community College.

“We are here to celebrate the signing of a new dual admission agreement that will
provide an affordable pathway to a bachelor’s degree,” announced President Gates Black.
“Under this agreement, graduating high school seniors and Delaware County Community
College students who wish to pursue a bachelor’s degree at West Chester University
will, upon signing an Intent to Enroll form, receive conditional admission to the
University. This dual admission program requires that students complete their associate
degree at Delaware County Community College prior to transferring to West Chester
University, but all credits taken at Delaware County as part of an associate degree
will transfer in their entirety….We are excited about what this means for our students
and our communities.”

Through the enhanced agreement, participating students who complete their associate
degree at Delaware County Community College will be eligible for more than 20 associate
degree programs that will transfer into parallel programs at West Chester University.

“At West Chester University, program participants will receive a renewable scholarship
of up to $2,000 per semester, for a total of $8,000 during the course of their studies,”
said President Fiorentino. “Additionally, they will be offered guaranteed campus housing,
if they desire, once our campus re-opens fully. The pandemic has brought unparalleled
challenges to our communities and heightened the need to create accessible and affordable
pathways to higher education. I am very proud that West Chester University and Delaware
County Community College are working collaboratively to address this critical issue.”

In addition to the presidents of the two institutions, the virtual ceremony featured
two students who have made the successful transition from Delaware County Community
College to West Chester University, and act as motivation for future students.

“Not long ago, I was an alcoholic and homeless. Today, I am sober, blessed with a
home, a wonderful family, and a purpose,” said WCU student Frederick Shegog of Drexel
Hill, who transferred from the College to the University in 2020 as a member of Phi
Theta Kappa National Honor Society, one of Coca-Cola Foundation’s 207 Leaders of Promise
scholars, and a Phi Theta Kappa All-PA scholar, who receives full tuition to the University.

“This past spring, I graduated from Delaware County Community College, where I majored
in communication. In 2022, I will graduate from West Chester University, where I am
majoring in communication with a minor in leadership through WCU’s Honors College.”

“As a person in recovery, I am passionate about wanting to help others suffering from
substance abuse disorder. During my time at Delaware County, I created The Message,
LLC, a motivational speaking company that I use to share my story, which WCU embraces….WCU
Communication Professor Dr. Elizabeth Munz is helping me obtain my first publication
at a national conference, and Delaware County and WCU professors have offered to help
edit my first book.”

Delaware County Community College’s 2020 Commencement speaker, and now WCU student,
Meredith Adams of Radnor, also spoke about her journey.

“Before Delaware County Community College, I had a really difficult time with college
and really didn’t know what to expect,” said Adams, a first-generation college student
who attended two different four-year institutions of higher learning before finding
her home-away-from-home at Delaware County Community College.

Having earned an associate degree in liberal arts from the College, Adams is now majoring
in accounting and finance at the University, with a minor in civic and professional
leadership in the Honors College.

“Throughout my college career, my major did change a couple of times, which is okay!
Delaware County really helped me calm down and focus on what I liked and what fields
I could see myself in….Because of the existing agreement between the College and the
University, I will be leaving school with very little debt, which will allow me to
get ahead in my career….Fast forward to now, I am loving West Chester. I feel so welcome,
even with starting completely virtual.”

In their remarks, each student also acknowledged the extensive support that they have
received from the two institutions; both have benefited from agreements that enabled
them to transfer all of their credits so they could begin as juniors at WCU.

To participate in the dual admission program, eligible students must receive their
associate degree and meet all University degree, major, and grade point average requirements.
The University’s biomedical engineering, social work, exploratory studies, sports
medicine, and traditional Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) major programs are
not part of this new enhanced dual admission agreement.

As the two institutions of higher learning work together to increase educational opportunities
for area students, the strengthened dual admission agreement is the latest of several
collaborative agreements.

In March of 2018, the two institutions signed an articulation agreement that brings WCU to the College’s Marple Campus to offer the third and fourth
year of students’ Bachelor of Science in Business Management degree.

In addition, Delaware County Community College and West Chester University also offer the Registered Nurse-Bachelor of Science in Nursing (RN-BSN) pathway from Delaware County Community College to West Chester University.

The two institutions’ revised RN-BSN Concurrent Enrollment Agreement, which was also enacted in 2018, provides another affordable pathway for qualified Associate of Science in Nursing
degree students at Delaware County Community College to earn the Bachelor of Science
in Nursing degree with only 30 additional credits.

This press release was produced by West Chester University. The views expressed here are the author’s own.