Credit When It’s Due Participation and Process Criteria (2/14/13)
In order to collect consistent data among the participating institutions, we must have a single approach
for the Credit When It’s Due two-year pilot/study. Below are the proposed parameters for the Credit
When It’s Due Reverser-Transfer initiative.
INITIATIVE CRITERIA AND DEFINITIONS:
 The criteria are specific to institutions participating in Ohio’s Credit When It’s Due initiative for
the time period of the grant. These criteria only pertain to the students eligible to participate in
the Credit When It’s Due initiative.

Pool of Eligible Students: The Ohio Board of Regents will run a query to create a pool of eligible
students for the program that includes students with:
o At least 45 semester credit hours earned at USO institutions.
o No program selection at a level less than baccalaureate in the most recently reported
semester.
o A minimum of 20 semester credit hours awarded from a two-year institution.
o A minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0 at the current university.
o No associate degree.
o No bachelor’s degree.

Residency Requirements: There will be consistent residency requirements for reverse transfer
degree eligibility for the purposes of this grant in order to compare outcomes among all
institutions:
o For students to be eligible for the reverse transfer degree audit process, the minimum
number of credits earned at the two-year college to meet the residency requirement
will not exceed 20 semester credit hours. This represents 1/3 of the student’s college
going experience.
o Two year institutions will not require residency for the final year or semester of credit to
reverse award the associate degree.

Awarding Institution: The two-year college where the student earned the most credits (with 20
semester credit hours as the minimum) or the last two-year college attended if the student
earned the same number of credits at multiple institutions will be recognized as the college
eligible to review the reverse award opportunity. Within a university’s existing requirements,
options may exist to review an associate degree award beyond the Credit When It’s Due
process.

Sending Institution: The student must be currently enrolled at one of the participating four-year
institutions. If a student is attending multiple universities in the current semester, the
institution where the student has earned the most semester credit hours will be recognized as
the currently enrolled university.
REPORT OF ELIGILBLE STUDENTS:
The Ohio Board of Regents plans to generate a report from HEI identifying students that meet the
criteria and are considered eligible for the reverse-transfer degree audit process. HEI will provide the
following information to the universities:
Student ID#
Com. College
# of Credit Hrs.
University
999999999
Buckeye CC
27
Big State U
Major/Program # of Credit Hrs.
of Study
75
Community colleges will be given a summary of the number of its former students who have been
identified as Credit When It’s Due candidates and the universities involved. No identifiable student
information will be available at this point.
REVERSE AWARD PROCESS
Below is an outline of the main process for Credit When It’s Due:
1. OBR generates a list of eligible students based on Ohio’s CWID eligibility criteria.
2. OBR sends the list of SSN’s and related information to the university attended by the student.
3. The university contacts the student informing them that they are eligible for the reversetransfer pilot program and could potentially earn an associate degree. The university sends a
standard letter explaining the initiative and its benefits with a waiver to obtain:
 Student permission to send the university transcript to the two-year institution for
consideration of a degree, directions for a student to directly send their transcript , or
both
4. Student petition to be awarded the associate degree by the two-year institution if they qualify
for the degree. Once the student has granted permission to participate, the university will send
the transcript to the two-year college through the Articulation and Transfer Clearinghouse. The
initiative will explore the best ways to help institutions sort Credit When It’s Due related
transcripts from other transcripts.
5. The two-year college evaluates the credit and runs a degree audit on the student. The two-year
institution documents the results of the degree audit process in a reporting template to include
the reason why a student did not qualify for a degree award (e.g. catalog timing issue, capstone
course issue, etc.).
6. The college notifies the student of the degree audit results. Standard language will be crafted
among the initiative partners for a letter or email to be used by all institutions.
7. Participating two-year institutions will award an associate degree to those who qualify without
charging a graduation fee or requiring an additional petition beyond the authorization provided
when the student agreed to participate in Credit When It’s Due and release his or her
transcripts. In awarding an associate degree in this initiative,
 Institutions will agree to award the degree in the student’s transcript.
 Institutions may provide additional benefits such as sending the student a diploma,
inviting the student to participate in commencement ceremonies, etc. The institution
has the option to charge related fees for these items, but must make it clear that these
items are not required for the degree award.
8. The two-year college contacts the university to provide list of students that received the
associate degree. The initiative will explore the best mechanisms for this communication.
9. University notes the associate degree award in its student records.
FERPA INTERPRETATION:
Based on the interpretation of FERPA Regulations, the Ohio Board of Regents will:



Only share student identifiable information for the pool of eligible students with the university
in which the student is currently enrolled.
Review the possibility to share summary information regarding the pool of eligible students with
two-year institutions at which students in the pool earned eligible credit for the initiative.
Work with participating institutions to draft a standard waiver in admissions, enrollment, or
transcript release forms for transcript information to be shared among USO institutions for the
purposes of reverse transfer degree award opportunities. This will be a strategy to consider for
institutions interested in continuing the practice after the pilot.