Wright State, Clark State renew partnership

Program allows easy path for 2-year degree to turn into 4-year degree, both say
Clark State provost Tiffany Hunter, Wright State president Sue Edwards, Clark State president Jo Blondin and Gracie Northington, a student who went through the Wright Path partnership between Clark State and Wright State, at the ceremony to renew Clark State and Wright State’s partnership. CONTRIBUTED BY WRIGHT STATE

Clark State provost Tiffany Hunter, Wright State president Sue Edwards, Clark State president Jo Blondin and Gracie Northington, a student who went through the Wright Path partnership between Clark State and Wright State, at the ceremony to renew Clark State and Wright State’s partnership. CONTRIBUTED BY WRIGHT STATE

Wright State University and Clark State Community College Friday renewed their partnership to provide a pathway for community college students to complete a bachelor’s degree program.

Students can get a two-year degree at Clark State, and their credits will transfer to Wright State to complete 50 bachelor’s degree programs. It’s a partnership both universities say increases affordability and access to college.

Wright State said students receive joint advising and other support from the two schools through the Wright Path Program to ease the transition to Wright State, which helps ensure students take the right courses and their credits transfer.

“We want to ensure that students have affordable, clear and consistent pathways to a four-year degree after taking two years at Clark State, and Wright State is an excellent partner in scaling these pathways for our students and providing access to more than 50 degree pathways,” said Jo Alice Blondin, president of Clark State. “Our partnership and collaboration represent a win for our students.”

Wright State president Sue Edwards praised the partnership during the signing on Friday.

“We understand the challenges that face some of our transfer students if we do not set very clear pathways,” Edwards said. “So by providing those articulations students know from the day they arrive at Clark State, ‘This is the path I am on. These are the classes I need to take. And I know that when I transfer to Wright State all of those classes will seamlessly transfer.’”

Wright State president Sue Edwards and Clark State president Jo Blondin listen to Gracie Northington, a junior finance major at Wright State who earned her associate’s degree through Clark State and transferred to Wright State to pursue a bachelor’s degree in finance, at the ceremony to renew Clark State and Wright State’s partnership. CONTRIBUTED BY WRIGHT STATE

Credit: Erin Pence

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Credit: Erin Pence

Wright State said the university has similar arrangements with Edison State Community College, Cincinnati State Technical and Community College and Sinclair Community College.

Wright Path students are eligible for transfer scholarships valued at up to $3,500 per year, have access to libraries at both institutions, and can participate in Wright State student organizations and clubs and live in Wright State campus housing while studying at Clark State, Wright State said.

Blondin said at the signing on Friday that Wright State has always been the number one transfer partner for Clark State students.

“But now that partnership is even stronger because of these pathways,” Blondin said.

Wright State said the partnership with Clark State has been long-term though it isn’t clear exactly when it began. It is also not clear how many students have gone through the program.

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