NAICU's Perspective

• NAICU has been a strong advocate for the fundamental right of colleges to determine the conditions under which they award academic credit.  We have firmly and consistently opposed any provision that would put the federal government in the position of setting standards.  As such, NAICU is pleased that all mandates were removed and is supportive of the streamlined disclosure requirements included in the final bill.
  
  
• NAICU has long believed that the best solution to transfer-of-credit problems is the development of voluntary articulation agreements among institutions that insure that receiving institutions will have the information needed to make appropriate decisions about transfer requests.  The federal government could play a constructive role in supporting such voluntary agreements, and the new law provides authority for such activity.  We are also pleased that the new bill specifically exempts private colleges from a federal mandate for public colleges to participate in an articulation program developed by the Secretary of Education.
  
  
• NAICU also agrees that transfer credits should not be rejected solely on the basis of the type of accreditation of the sending institution.  We endorsed the policy statement issued on November 2000 by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, which takes this position.  Nevertheless, we do not believe that any mandates regarding credit transfer policies should be written into federal law.