Community college students are jumping at the chance to save money through Arizona State University's new transfer program.
The Transfer Admission Guarantee program - called TAG - gives students five years to complete a bachelor's degree with a capped tuition - potentially saving them thousands of dollars.
ASU and the other state universities are trying to expand transfer programs with community colleges, ultimately to help with the state's goals of providing lower-cost options for earning a degree and increasing the number of degree holders.
How it works
Students take a prescribed set of community college courses and get guaranteed admission to ASU.
It's a "very efficient and economic pathway" because students don't spend time and money for classes that aren't going to count in a transfer, ASU Vice Provost Maria Hesse said.
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The distinctive aspect of this "2 + 2" program is that students are locked into a lower tuition at ASU.
ASU tuition is increasing 18.8 percent for new students this fall. For TAG students, tuition increases are capped at 5 percent per year.
If the student doesn't graduate within five years, the price resets.
Many students sign up
Pima Community College piloted the TAG program in spring of this year in one area of study.
Of the 152 students who declared they were working toward a social-services associate's degree at PCC, 59 signed up within the first few weeks.
Many of those students who decide to pursue a bachelor's degree would have chosen ASU anyway. ASU offers a social-work degree program in Tucson, while the University of Arizona does not.
Students said they signed up to save money.
Erika Arriola, a junior from Rio Rico, wants to earn a social-work degree and become a caseworker for Child Protective Services.
She heard about TAG from an adviser who "talked about how we can save a lot of money," she said.
She said her father, a maquiladora manager, is paying for her college and is glad about the capped cost.
Kevin Polite, a sophomore with a goal of becoming a community organizer, is paying for college using scholarships and his GI benefits. He learned about TAG through his instructors and signed up.
"I think tuition is outrageous to begin with, and this is a way of helping people who need it," Polite said.
What's next
More students will sign up for TAG as the schools add more areas of study, Hesse predicted.
This fall, PCC students who are elementary-education majors can apply. Also in the works are agreements for psychology and biological sciences, and for business with a choice to specialize in tourism, urban policy or sustainability.
Cochise College is getting started on a TAG program, too. The college estimates its students will save $5,357 on the way to a bachelor's degree in psychology or $8,262 on a bachelor's degree in criminology and criminal justice.
Cochise may add elementary education, psychology and biological sciences.
On the Net
Go online for detailed information on the TAG programs.
www.pima.edu/transfer/ ASU-TAG/
Contact reporter Becky Pallack at bpallack@azstarnet.com or 807-8012.
