KPU partners with U.S. university to broaden degree opportunities
Green River College is just one of the post-secondary institutions KPU has partnered with over the years
Green River College students will soon be able to pursue two bachelor degrees through KPU beginning next fall. (Green River College Photo Library/ Joseph Becker)
Students enrolled at Green River College (GRC), in Washington state can now pursue degree opportunities at Kwantlen Polytechnic University.
The partnership allows GRC students to work towards a bachelor of arts or business administration degree during their time at KPU.
“It was an opportunity for us to ladder [GRC’s] associate of arts and associate of business into our bachelor of arts and bachelor of business degrees here at KPU,” says Zainab Al-koubaisi, director of global engagement at KPU.
“We started the conversations with the faculties here at KPU, with the deans as well, to get the transfer credit process underway and ensure that we recognize the courses that students were taking.”
By allowing GRC students to easily transfer their courses to KPU, the partnership helps them work towards their academic and professional goals.
“We encourage our students to transfer to their dream schools instead of pigeonholing them in our small state,” Kerry Kwon, an international student advisor at GRC, wrote in an email statement to The Runner.
“KPU was very thorough with their articulation and willing to work with us to make this partnership happen,” Kwon wrote.
GRC students are expected to arrive next fall semester.
“Geographically it made sense because our students love visiting Canada (due to close proximity) and KPU is close enough for them to visit and see the campus before making it their next academic destination,” Kwon wrote.
Al-koubaisi also hopes this partnership will continue to help diversify the KPU student community within the classroom setting.
“It offers the opportunity for students to mingle with students that have had experience under a different learning environment,” she says.
Although the focus of the partnership is on students receiving a bachelor of arts or business administration degree at KPU, there will be an opportunity for GRC students to enroll in other faculties as well.
“We did a course to course transfer, not a blog transfer. This allows students from GRC to also apply to other faculties at KPU, as long as they meet the admission requirements for the limited intake programs should they choose to do so,” says Al-koubaisi
This partnership is also applicable for international students at GRC.
“It also gives our international students the ability to explore opportunities outside the USA where immigration policies are less stringent,” Kwon wrote.
“Some of our domestic students have never been to another country. This gives them the opportunity to study abroad without too much culture shock and language barriers,” he wrote.
This is not the first time KPU has partnered with other post-secondary institutions around the world. KPU students can also transfer to SUMAS (Sustainability Management School), a university in Switzerland to complete their master’s degree.
“We also have an articulation for our students to go abroad to St. George’s University to complete their medicine or veterinary degree, if they completed the health sciences degree here at KPU,” says Al-koubaisi.
“It is a great opportunity, especially on a global scale, to put our name out there with affiliated universities … and for us to welcome students from across the world, not only through recruitment efforts, but also through partnerships.”
For more information on KPU’s partnerships with other universities, visit their website.
