Jefferson Community and Technical College and Bellarmine University recently formed an official partnership which aims to achieve increased enrollment and degree completion. The partnership is being heralded as a promising path forward to increase the percentage of Kentuckians with postsecondary degrees and to promote greater diversity in higher education.
A new partnership has been announced between Jefferson Community and Technical College and Bellarmine University. Administrators formed the partnership to make it easier for JCTC students to transfer to Bellarmine University to pursue a four-year degree. It will also allow Bellarmine students to transfer credits back to JCTC. The two colleges have instituted a plan which will provide specific and clear pathways for students to pursue a degree in a variety of scientific disciplines, education, and health and aging programs. Administrators from both schools hope to grow and develop the partnership more in coming years. They say that the partnership will benefit the regional economy by reducing barriers to education, thereby increasing the percentage of adults with higher education credentials.
The partnership, dubbed Jefferson 2 Bellarmine (or more briefly, 2BU), is unusual in that it pairs a public community college with a private four-year university. 2BU is also more reciprocal in that new students who aren't granted admission to Bellarmine are automatically referred to JCTC with information about an alternate pathway to Bellarmine admission. Additionally, current Bellarmine students can “reverse transfer” credits back to JCTC to earn associate degrees and certifications while they are working on their bachelor's degrees. The 2BU agreement waives the application fee for JCTC students when applying to transfer to Bellarmine. Prospective transfer students will be able to easily transfer credits from one institution to the other, and Jefferson students who are accepted will qualify for significantly reduced tuition costs. Full scholarships based on merit will be available to a small number of students in the program as well. In a press release from Bellarmine, BU President Dr. Susan Donovan emphasized the importance of assisting JCTC students financially to increase enrollment, " In the past, tuition costs may have been a barrier for Jefferson students considering a transfer to Bellarmine, but this new partnership should alleviate those concerns through generous tuition support that may be comparable to the cost of attending Jefferson."
Administrators from both JCTC and Bellarmine have voiced a commitment to growing the partnership as a way of providing more educational opportunities and economic stability to the region surrounding Louisville. Dr. Ty Handy, JCTC President is quoted in an announcement as saying, "We've enjoyed a great relationship with Bellarmine, and we're thrilled now to formalize this relationship in such a way that we are able to create more opportunities between the two institutions for a greater impact for our students and the Louisville community." The two institutions are seeking other ways to collaborate including research collaboration and career placement. Talks are underway to allow Bellarmine graduate students to work as adjunct instructors at JCTC. Other educators in Kentucky are hopeful that the partnership will improve the state's rates of secondary educational achievement. Dr. Melissa Bell with the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education shared in an article published by Louisville Courier Journal that the partnership could help to meet the council's goal of achieving a benchmark of 60% of adults in Kentucky having a degree or credential by 2030. And Dr. Mike Marshall, VP for Enrollment at Bellarmine, hopes that the partnership can be replicated with other institutions within the Kentucky community and Technical College System. Dr Marshall was a leader in the development of 2BU and thinks that the program can address gaps in diversity and inclusivity through retention of community college students who are seeking four-year degrees. He says, "We wanted to understand, how can we support community college students, primarily students in our own backyard. There's a lot of talent here in Louisville." Dr. Marshall went on to express confidence that 2BU can, "…serve as a model and a catalyst for other independent private higher education institutions to embrace this opportunity to serve the public good."