Ohio Transfer Initiatives

The State of Ohio, through the leadership of the Ohio Department of Higher Education, has established a coherent statewide policy intended to facilitate students’ ability to complete their highest level of educational goal achievement seamlessly within Ohio’s postsecondary educational system. To that end, the Ohio Articulation and Transfer policy (available online at: https://transfercredit.ohio.gov/initiatives-upd/articulation-and-transfer-policy/ohio-articulation-transfer-policy-overview) was developed to facilitate the transfer of students and credits from any state-assisted college or university to another. It encourages faculty recognition of comparable and compatible learning experiences and expectations across institutions. It also encourages students to complete units of educational experience as they progress [e.g., transfer assurance guides, Ohio Transfer 36, and associate and baccalaureate degrees].

Ohio Guaranteed Transfer Pathways

Section 3333.16(C) of the Ohio Revised Code was signed into law in June 2015. This law requires the Chancellor of the Ohio Department of Higher Education to develop a process to establish statewide guaranteed transfer pathways from two-year to four-year degree programs in an equivalent field. This effort is directly related to Ohio’s college affordability and degree completion initiatives.

Additional information on the Ohio Guaranteed Transfer Pathways process may be found at https://transfercredit.ohio.gov/initiatives-upd/ohio-guaranteed-transfer-pathways.

Ohio Transfer 36

Ohio Transfer 36 provides guaranteed transfer credit for a complete set or subset of general education requirements at an Ohio public college or university. Ohio Transfer 36 courses ensure timely progress toward your degree by guaranteeing successful completion of general education coursework throughout your transfer experience.

Additional information on the Ohio Transfer 36 process may be found at https://transfercredit.ohio.gov/initiatives-upd/ohio-transfer-36.  

Transfer Assurance Guides (TAG)

Statewide Transfer Assurance Guides (TAGs) are composed of general education courses (Ohio Transfer 36 courses) and specified courses required for the academic major. A TAG as an advising tool can assist Ohio university and community and technical college students planning specific majors to make course selections that will ensure comparable, compatible and equivalent learning experiences across the state’s higher-education system. Several area-specific TAG pathways in the arts, humanities, business, communication, education, health, mathematics, science, engineering, engineering technologies and the social sciences have been developed by faculty teams. Additional information on specific Transfer Assurance Guides can be found on the Ohio Department of Higher Education website at https://transfercredit.ohio.gov/initiatives-upd/transfer-assurance-guides.

TAGs empower students to make informed course selection decisions and plans for their future transfer. Advisory at the institution to which a student wishes to transfer should also be consulted during the transfer process. Because of specific major requirements, early identification of the intended major is encouraged.

Career Transfer Assurance Guides (CTAG)

Statewide CTAGs (Career Transfer Assurance Guides) are similar to TAGs but are composed of career-technical courses instead of general education courses. CTAGs can assist Ohio university and community and technical college students in making decisions on course selection that will ensure comparable, compatible and equivalent learning experiences between and among all public higher education institutions in Ohio and embody commonly accepted pathways to applied degree programs – both at the associate and baccalaureate levels – across the state.

Additional information on the Career Transfer Assurance Guides process may be found at https://transfercredit.ohio.gov/initiatives-upd/ctags.

Industry Recognized Credential Transfer Assurance Guides (ITAG)

ITAGs are a statewide transfer initiative that guarantees the award of college-level credit to students earning agreed-upon industry-recognized credentials. The award of credit is based upon the knowledge, skills, and competencies gained through credential attainment, regardless of where the learning to prepare for the credential took place.

Military Transfer Assurance Guides (MTAG)

Military Transfer Assurance Guides (MTAGs) ensure that training, experience, or coursework completed while in the Armed Forces is consistently evaluated for transfer to public institutions in Ohio. 

Additional information on Military Transfer Assurance Guides may be found at: https://transfercredit.ohio.gov/initiatives-upd/mtags

Transferology

Transferology is designed to provide students with accurate information about how courses transfer between colleges and universities and how they will apply toward the completion of a college degree. LCCC students are encouraged to access this site to check the transferability of courses and to work with their Academic Advisor to incorporate this system into their degree planning.

Transferology is a web-based program allowing students to track and check how their LCCC courses will transfer to other Ohio colleges and universities. With Transferology, students can: 

  1. Establish a Transferology account (free of charge).
  2. Store information on completed courses. 
  3. Obtain information on how Lorain County Community College courses transfer to other Ohio colleges and universities. 
  4. Request transfer guides that will provide information about: 
    • How courses transfer. 
    • How courses apply to the intended major after transferring. 
    • What courses are still needed to complete a degree after transferring? 
  5. Obtain information about how courses from other Ohio colleges and universities transfer to Lorain County Community College.

To access Transferology, go to www.transferology.com or www.lorainccc.edu/transfer.  

As with TAGs, advisors at the institution where a student wishes to transfer should be consulted during the course selection/transfer preparation process.

Ohio Articulation Number (OAN)

Statewide faculty committees have reviewed pre-major courses that represent the commonly accepted pathway to majors within the bachelor’s degree (TAGs). Courses or course sequences meeting established learning outcome standards are assigned discipline-specific OANs. When consensus is established, and a course is noted with both the colleges or universities' departmental designation and the assigned Ohio Articulation Number (OAN), students are assured not only of the equivalency of the courses but of their application to the degree objective. A complete listing of Lorain County Community College’s OAN-approved courses can be found at http://regents.ohio.gov/transfer/tags/index.php.

Ohio Technical Center Degree Pathways (OTC)

The Ohio Technical Center Degree Pathways (OTC) establishes an articulation system whereby adults who complete a career-technical education program of study consisting of a minimum of 900 clock hours and achieve an industry-recognized credential approved by the Chancellor shall receive thirty (30) semester hours of technical course credit toward a standardized Associate of Technical Study Degree (ATS) upon matriculation at a public institution of higher education in Ohio that confers such a degree. The 30 semester hours will be awarded as a block of credit (rather than credit for specific courses) and will satisfy the technical course requirements for the ATS degree. Proportional credit is to be awarded toward the ATS degree for adults who complete a program of study between 600 and 899 clock hours.

The OTC builds upon Ohio’s articulation and transfer system to help more adults accelerate their preparation for work by earning a technical associate degree. Consistent with the Career-Technical Assurance Guides (CTAGs) philosophy, the OTC guarantees that college credit will be awarded for college-level learning at career-technical institutions. The credit earned through the OTC will be applied to ATS degrees bearing the following standardized degree titles:

  1. Associate of Technical Study in Building and Industrial Technology
  2. Associate of Technical Study in Business Technology
  3. Associate of Technical Study in Health and Allied Health Technology
  4. Associate of Technical Study in Information Technology
  5. Associate of Technical Study in Services Technology

Inter-institutional credit affirmation teams provide oversight for the OTC through peer reviews of the career-technical education program of study and certifications to affirm that students who complete each program and approved certification(s) demonstrate competencies equivalent to 30 (or proportional) technical course credits.[16]

Advising resources are available to guide students considering enrolling in either a OTC program of study or a Career-Technical Assurance Guide (CTAG) program of study. Effective advising is essential to inform the decision about which pathway is most appropriate to advance each student’s immediate and future career and academic goals.

Section 363.120 of House Bill 59 of the 130th General Assembly provided the impetus for the OTC.[17]

Secondary Ohio Technical Center Degree Pathway (OTC)

To provide statewide access to secondary students, specified programs will now be eligible through the Secondary OTC option. Secondary Career Technical Education programs that meet the criteria below will be reviewed for approval:

a) culminate in a credential equivalent to the credential earned through an approved Ohio Technical Center program for which there is an approved template,
b) have instruction time equivalent to the required clock hours listed on the approved template, and
c) have no CTAG discipline or course level CTAN approved for a secondary career-technical pathway or designated as an in-demand area.