This is a guest opinion

Perhaps you’ve read the recent AP article entitled “‘Waste of time’: Community college transfers derail students.”

If you haven’t, Collin Binkley tells a story about a Californian community college student named Ricki Korba who had recently been accepted to California State University. Upon transferring to CSU, Ricki learned that many of her science courses would not “count” for credit since they were completed at a community college. Ultimately, she would need to retake the same courses at CSU that she had previously passed.

The article notes that this phenomenon—called “credit loss”—is quite common in California, and it typically results in community college transfer students spending extra time and money in order to finish their degree. Moreover, those receiving Financial Aid face the added risk of having their federal funding run out.

Translation: The Californian community college-to-university transition can be much more challenging than students (and their families) realize.

If this story gives you chill bumps, know that Alabama college students have a powerful weapon to safeguard against these situations. Signed by Governor Folsom in 1994, The Great State passed ACT 94-202 which created the Alabama Articulation and General Studies Committee (AGSC). Among its many functions, the AGSC aims to ensure that Alabama community college course credit almost entirely transfers to Alabama public universities.

I say “almost” because unfortunately some courses are exempt. For instance, most college orientation courses, despite their documented utility in helping students graduate, often don’t transfer. The same can be said for many specialized courses in fields like welding, machining, and cosmetology, which typically don’t have a university equivalent. Often, these classes are treated as “elective credit” at many Alabama four-year schools.

This brings me to my second point, specifically about Alabama community colleges. We’re a small but mighty corps who, on a near daily basis, advise students who plan on transferring to state universities. Every one of us are committed to helping students select transferable coursework that aligns with their defined career goals. Many of us even have strong working relationships with university admissions counselors to ensure students are properly “handed off.”

The underlying premise that Binkley’s “Waste of time” article highlights is that community college coursework is somehow beneath or less than university coursework. As a Central Alabama Community College faculty member, I’m biased toward favoring my classroom over the university equivalent. But objective feedback from many academic programs—pharmacy schools, medical schools, agriculture programs, four-year nursing programs, veterinary schools, graduate schools, etc.—indicates that CACC (like many of our sibling schools) continues to do an exceptional job at preparing our students for successful academic and professional careers.

Many are surprised to learn that Alabama community colleges serve a large percentage of four-year students. In fact, much of our past success with this cohort has attracted university students who need help mastering fundamentals in order to reach their career goals. Many make the trip, a couple times per week, to complete their needed coursework. And guess what? The resulting course credit cleanly transfers!

Ultimately, we Alabama community college employees are motivated by our students’ successes. Our “normal” is more than a 9-5 government job; it’s an odd combination of late nights and early mornings that culminate with our students blossoming into the next generation of teachers, researchers, counselors, engineers, pharmacists, and medical doctors, among other professions.

Whether students are planning on becoming a nurse, or welder, or (in Ricki’s case) a chemist, Alabama community colleges continue to play an integral part of this process in working with our partner four-year schools to ensure that every credit rightfully counts.

Dr. Jeremy M. Carr serves as a Chemistry Instructor and Mathematics & Sciences Division Chair at Central Alabama Community College.