Michigan lawmakers are looking at ways to smooth the transfer process from the state's community colleges to universities.
More than 40 percent of Michigan students attend a community college for at least one term, but sometimes their credits can't all be transferred to a four-year institution.
Chris Baldwin is with the Michigan Community College Association.
He says there's an attempt to clarify initially the first 30 credits that a student earns as part of the core general education requirement, and making those concisely and clearly transferable to a university.
"There's been an agreement in place for the last 40 years, but it hasn't been revisited," Baldwin says. "As a result there have been exceptions added, and it's gotten more confusing over time for students and even institutions.
He says there are no statewide standards, and some credit transfers can depend on the student's career path.
"Somebody who's going into liberal arts or statistics or business may not need as much mathematics," Baldwin says. "It's complicated and it's one of the areas we're still working on as a group."
He says a final report will go to a joint House and Senate committee in September. That could lead to a new agreement between two- and four-year colleges.
