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Alverno College is teaming up with Outlier.org, an online education platform dedicated to reducing student debt and increasing access to quality higher education, along with several other colleges and universities in an effort to improve the transfer student experience. The Outlier.org Credit Transfer Network includes 18 universities and colleges with more joining every month.

“We have an obligation to our students to make the transfer process as seamless as possible,” said Kate Lundeen, vice president for Enrollment and Marketing. “We know that keeping students on track for graduation is key to their success, and being a part of the Credit Transfer Network means that students who choose Alverno won’t lose ground. Recognizing and honoring the work they’ve completed means they have one less hurdle to overcome.”

Drop off rates among degree-seeking community college students are consistently high. Only 30% end up transferring to a four-year institution while only 14.6% complete a bachelor’s degree within six years.

“Outlier.org is working with leading institutions across the country to build a new kind of on-ramp to higher education,” said Aaron Rasmussen, CEO and Founder of Outlier.org. “By partnering with schools to build bridges from our courses into their degree programs, we can help students reduce the cost of their education and graduate faster.”

The Outlier.org Credit Transfer Network makes public and accessible the course equivalencies involved in transferring credit from Outlier.org courses into the institutions that are part of the network. This gives students greater certainty and ability to plan their journey towards earning a degree at the institution of their choice.

In addition to Alverno, the Outlier.org Credit Transfer Network includes the following institutions:

• American College of Education
• Bellevue University
• CUNY School of Professional Studies
• Excelsior University
• Golden Gate University
• Illinois Institute of Technology
• Manipal International University
• National University
• Southern New Hampshire University
• University Commonwealth of the Caribbean
• University of Maryland Global Campus
• University of Massachusetts Amherst
• University of Massachusetts Global
• University of Massachusetts Lowell
• University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
• Virginia Commonwealth University
• Western Governors University

Along with schools in the Credit Transfer Network, any institution can accept credit from Outlier.org courses which are transcripted and overseen by the University of Pittsburgh. Students have requested their Outlier.org transcripts be sent to over 500 home institutions and report transferring credit to top schools like Harvard University, Georgetown University, Princeton University, New York University, UC Berkeley, Pennsylvania State University, University of Denver, University of Wisconsin–Madison, and many more.

“We are failing students when the idea of having to retake and pay for courses they’ve already taken is the difference between successfully transferring or giving up on earning a degree,” added Rasmussen. “Outlier.org offers a unique opportunity for students to earn the credit they need, when they need it, with world-class instructors.”

Institutions interested in joining the Outlier.org Credit Transfer Network can visit www.outlier.org/pages/university-partnerships.

About Outlier.org

Created by the Co-founder of MasterClass, Outlier.org offers beautiful, effective online courses that earn students transferable college credit for a fraction of the cost. In addition to featuring cinema-quality lectures, Outlier.org courses are taught by some of the most charismatic figures in academia, including instructors from Yale, MIT, and Columbia, and are transcripted by the University of Pittsburgh, a top 60 school. Students enjoy a top-quality learning experience that includes access to 1-on-1 tutoring for math courses, AI-proctored assessments, dynamically-generated problem sets, and cutting-edge active learning materials. In keeping with the company's mission to increase access to top-quality higher education and reduce student debt, each course is priced at just $400.