State Articulation Agreements, U.S.

State articulation agreements refer to the arrangements between U.S. higher education institutions that allow the transfer of academic credits by students from one institution to another. The state policy rationale for these agreements is to create a seamless system for students to move from one postsecondary institution to another without losing credits or having to repeat courses. While the concept of articulation in the United States is straightforward, student enrollment patterns among colleges and universities are increasingly complex with students not only following the traditional vertical transfer pathway from a community college to a university but also transferring with greater frequency laterally from one 4-year university to another, from one 2-year college to another, or even reverse transferring from a university to a community college.

While ...