Your Simple Plan B Strategy: Make it College

By: Mark Toljagic

Your acceptance letters may be on their way, but they don’t always contain the news you want to hear. What do you do when you don’t get a warm invitation from the university of your choice? Or you’ve crunched the numbers and you can’t afford university right now?

There is another path to university, one that makes for an excellent “Plan B” strategy you can put into action this year, instead of sitting it out. More and more university-bound students are enrolling in college to get their post-secondary education rolling, then transferring into university with advanced standing a year or two later.

Articulation is a $20 word that basically means college and university programs can be linked to provide seamless entry from one program to the other for those students who qualify. Articulation and collaborative agreements, transfer credits and block transfers are negotiated between institutions to allow students to start at any point and be able to choose whatever path fits their needs.

Articulation allows students to continue their education at other institutions without having to repeat courses they have already taken. Some college credits can count towards a university degree – and the best part is the cost of those college credits can be half the price of university courses. You can save some money by spending a year or two at college before moving on to university.

Toronto’s Centennial College was an early pioneer of articulation agreements with a number of Canadian and U.S. universities. For example, students of Centennial’s Child and Youth Worker program earn two years of advance standing towards a degree in Child and Youth Care from Ryerson University. Graduates have both a college diploma and university degree after five years of study.

A year in Centennial’s unique Book and Magazine Publishing program means graduates can apply to York University with six elective credits already earned. Students of the college’s popular Hospitality and Tourism Administration program can complete a Hospitality Administration degree after just 14 additional months of study at Southern New Hampshire University.

Want a real adventure? Graduates of Centennial’s Computer Programmer Analyst program can qualify for entry into the Bachelor of Commerce program with two years of credit towards a three-year degree program at the University of Western Sydney in Australia! It’s one of several university opportunities outside of North America available through Centennial College.

You get the idea. College is a springboard to university in many ways, in many directions. And new articulation agreements are being added all the time. The sky is the limit. All you have to do is ask about the opportunities that await you!

Go to http://www.centennialcollege.ca/articulations.pdf for all the details.

Website: www.centennialcollege.ca