What if you could get everything you want out of college but keep cost—and therefore debt—to a minimum?
Beginning your college career at a community college is a smart choice. If you're from Massachusetts, attending one of the bachelor's degree-granting colleges or universities within the Massachusetts Public Higher Education system is already one of your most affordable options. However, your tuition and fees can cost half as much if you were enrolled at one of the System's Community Colleges!
To help you leverage those savings toward completion of a bachelor's degree, Massachusetts’ public community colleges, state universities, and University of Massachusetts (the System) campuses have joined together to offer a variety of cost-saving transfer pathways to reduce the overall out-of-pocket expense of a bachelor’s degree. These pathways vary in requirements and total expected savings, so be sure to explore your options and choose the best pathway for you.
MassTransfer provides the following benefit to transfer students who complete the General Education Foundation at a college or university within the System:
MassTransfer seeks to reward community college students who complete associate degrees at Massachusetts community colleges before they enroll in linked bachelor’s programs at state universities or UMass campuses within the System.
MassTransfer students who have completed an A2B Mapped Pathway receive the following benefits:
A2B System-Wide Pathway maps are comprised of the MassTransfer GenEd Foundation and a selection of courses in your major field of study. These Major Foundational Courses are guaranteed to be accepted in transfer by each state university and UMass campus. They also represent the minimum number of major courses you would need to complete at your community college in order to still complete your bachelor's degree within two years after your transfer. A2B System-Wide Pathways are most beneficial if you know your intended major but are not sure to which state university or UMass campus you want to transfer.
In addition to the MassTransfer GenEd Foundation, A2B Campus-to-Campus Pathway maps list all of the major-specific courses that resident students would complete within their first 60 credits of study at the baccalaureate institution. Completing all of the courses is recommended, but not required. As long as you complete your associate degree, you will receive all the benefits of an A2B transfer. A2B Campus-to-Campus Pathways are your best choice if you know what you want to major in and to which state university or UMass campus you want to transfer.
A2B Linked Pathways do not feature curriculum maps. Although these agreements guarantee 60 credits will transfer, whether the credits are applied in your major, as general education, or as electives is at the discretion of the receiving institution. A2B Linked Pathways are best for students in non-traditional or highly specialized fields of study.
MassTransfer students following an A2B Mapped Pathway may choose to participate in the Commonwealth Commitment program. "ComCom" students agree to:
"ComCom" students enjoy the following benefits in addition to those of the General Education Foundation and A2B levels:
Students who transferred from a community college prior to completing their associate degree may apply to have credits transferred back to the community college from the state university or UMass campus. Doing so would allow students to retroactively complete their associate degree while continuing their progress on bachelor’s degree completion.
If you are not following one of the MassTransfer Pathways, there are still transfer options available that let you take advantage of the course and program maps that have been created—search for course equivalencies between our community colleges, state universities or UMass campuses.
Many community colleges have additional transfer agreements and campus equivalency guides with public and private colleges and universities that do not fall under the MassTransfer statewide policy.
If you're looking to transfer from a Massachusetts community college to a four-year independent college, you may be able to take advantage of the Massachusetts Independent College Transfer Guarantee (MA-Guarantee).
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