Southern New Hampshire lures community college students with discounted tuition and easy credit transfer policy
If you want to understand how online degrees are shaking up traditional colleges and universities, look at Pennsylvania. In January 2020, the state’s 14 community colleges signed an unusual agreement with a private nonprofit university far outside Pennsylvania’s borders to encourage students to complete their bachelor’s degrees online.
As part of the agreement, Pennsylvania community college students, who are enrolled in two-year associate or shorter programs, can automatically transfer up to three academic years’ worth of classes (90 credits) to Southern New Hampshire University and pursue bachelor’s degrees. That’s a significant gift to students who often struggle to transfer their community college credits to four-year institutions. In addition, Pennsylvania students will receive a 10 percent discount off the tuition at Southern New Hampshire University, making the out-of-state online degree cheaper than what they would likely otherwise pay at a public university in the state.
Southern New Hampshire University used to be unknown outside New England but it’s quickly grown since the 2008 recession to become a national online degree giant with more than 130,000 students. When a behemoth like that moves into Pennsylvania looking to grab market share, analysts pay attention.