Some 60 percent of community-college students nationwide seek transfer credits to continue their education. A recent Inside Higher Ed report said the average transfer student earns 140 credits toward a bachelor's degree even though only 120 are usually necessary. And students often find themselves taking classes that won't transfer at all.

The Santa Fe Community College has been dealing with this issue for years. After reporting on that college's challenges in building a new Higher Education Center on property adjacent to the Santa Fe University of Art and Design, I received phone calls and emails from SFCC students who said they are discovering that not all of their credits apply to other higher-ed institutions.

Ron Liss, vice president of Academic and Student Affairs at the community college since 2007, agrees that this is a problem — not only at SFCC, but with community colleges around the country. And while urging students to take some responsibility in discussing this issue with their school counselors, he added, "Both the accepting university and the community college have to play a role in providing clear and complete information as often as we can and reach out to students to make sure they understand."

The college has already enrolled more than 500 students in its higher-education center on its campus. There SFCC graduates can pursue bachelor's and master's degrees offered by New Mexico Highlands University and The University of New Mexico this year in various fields, including criminal justice, business administration and nursing. The Institute of American Indian Arts is also a partner in the project, though it has yet to offer any courses.

If SFCC students have earned an associate degree in a specific program, that program and all its credits will transfer seamlessly to the corresponding program of the partnering institutions at the Higher Education Center. But beyond that, there can be some confusion regarding transfers, Liss said.

Sometimes complete associate degree credits will transfer to another college, he said. Sometimes only certain courses transfer and students might find themselves taking similar courses again at the new college.

There's a difference, too, between the community college's associate degrees and applied associate degrees, he said: "Applied describes programs that are career-directed. Those are not guaranteed for a transfer; there is not necessarily an alignment with a bachelor's degree at a four-year school because a number of those schools often would not have a matching course lineup."

While the college does have articulation agreements with its Higher Education Centerpartners and several other universities — including the Savannah College of Art and Design and the University of Phoenix — Liss urges students to touch base with counselors at both SFCC and future transfer colleges so they know where they stand with credits.

"Connect to an academic adviser as soon as you can and ask these questions," Liss said. "Let your adviser know that you are eventually looking to transfer so you can talk from a transfer perspective early rather than from a 'just finished my degree' perspective later on."

Visit http://www.sfcc.edu/registration/transfer_students for more information about the topic at SFCC.

Incidentally, the community college campus and all facilities, with the exception of KSFR public radio station, La Familia Dental Center, and the Early Childhood Developmental Center, will be closed for winter break from Saturday, Dec. 17, through Monday, Jan. 2.

Contact Robert Nott at 986-3021 or rnott@sfnewmexican.com.