NASHVILLE, TN — MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee met with Nashville State Community College President Shanna L. Jackson recently and formally announced the “True Blue Pathway” partnership agreement between the university and college.
Together, McPhee and Jackson cemented the partnership between the two so that students would be able to get an associate degree from Nashville State to move seamlessly to the four-year university.
Nashville State is one of the top transfer feeder schools for MTSU, which is the No. 1 destination in the state for transfer students and the top institution using the reverse transfer process.
MTSU offers a Guaranteed Transfer Scholarship ($3,000 per year for two years) for eligible students who apply by Feb. 15.
Middle Tennessee State University signed an agreement Wednesday (Nov. 20) to extend the “True Blue Pathway” to Nashville State Community College, formalizing the eighth such partnership established for students with associate degrees to move seamlessly to the four-year university.
MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee and Nashville State President Shanna L. Jackson signed the documents at Nashville State’s main campus off White Bridge Road.
MTSU is No. 1 in the state in transfer students and is the top institution using the reverse transfer process. Nashville State is one of MTSU’s top transfer feeder schools. In August 2018, a total of 861 former Nashville State students were enrolled at MTSU to complete their four-year degrees.
Nashville State is the eighth community college to join the MTSU Pathway program, where the university pledges support to help students at partner schools complete their associate degree, then move forward in seeking a four-year degree.
McPhee signed a similar agreement Oct. 29 Chattanooga State, Oct. 22 with Volunteer State and earlier this year with Columbia State. He signed agreements last year with Motlow State, Cleveland State, Southwest Tennessee (Memphis) and Dyersburg State. MTSU recruiters are currently visiting colleges to recruit prospective transfer students for 2020 and beyond.
“Our close proximity to Nashville State and the desire of many of its students to move on to our campus for their bachelor’s degrees make this a natural win-win partnership,” McPhee said. “I appreciate Nashville State’s cooperation in helping all of us in higher education produce a highly skilled workforce for our region and state.”
“The True Blue Pathway partnership takes our relationship with MTSU to the next level and reaffirms our commitment to putting students first,” Jackson said. “It simplifies the steps from Nashville State to MTSU and builds in early support for students.”
The “pathway” agreement calls for Nashville State to share with MTSU directory information of the college’s students so they are included in tailored communications of emails and hard-copy mailings that support the process of planning for the bachelor’s degree after successful completion of the associate degree.
Also, the agreement says Nashville State students who agree to participate in the MTSU True Blue Pathway will sign a “reverse transfer” agreement, meaning if they fail to complete their associate degrees prior to transfer, they would automatically receive their associate degree from Nashville State once sufficient credits have been completed at MTSU.
Through its existing Guaranteed Transfer Scholarship Program, MTSU will provide aid for Nashville State students who transfer to MTSU in the amount of $3,000 per year for two years, or a maximum of four semesters, based on achievement of a 3.0 GPA.
Students transferring to MTSU will not be eligible to apply to receive the Guaranteed Transfer Scholarship until after completing 45 credit hours at Nashville State.
MTSU will also assure to such students that if they complete 60 credits with a 3.0 GPA at Nashville State, they will be guaranteed admission and a scholarship to attend MTSU for their last two years of study.
For details about the MTSU/Nashville State agreement, visit www.mtsu.edu/partners/index.php and for a comprehensive explanation of transferring to MTSU after receiving an associate degree, visit www.mtsu.edu/transfer.
Nashville State’s other campuses are in Antioch, East Davidson, Clarksville, Dickson and Humphreys County. To learn more, visit www.nscc.edu online.
