Guaranteed-transfer admission partnership with Macomb Community College expands access to college degrees

Wayne State and Macomb Community College have created a new guaranteed-transfer admission partnership that expands access to college degrees, meaningful careers and economic prosperity.  

The new Transfer Pathways Agreement, which includes 20 academic programs at Wayne State, helps students maximize credits earned toward a Macomb associate degree when transferring to WSU to complete a bachelor’s.

“It’s great to be taking another important step with our long-standing partner Wayne State University in further streamlining the route from associate degree at Macomb Community College to bachelor-degree completion at Wayne,” said James O. Sawyer, president, Macomb Community College. “Earning a bachelor’s degree is a pathway to opportunity and prosperity for our students, their families and our community.”

Wayne State University Provost Laurie Lauzon Clabo says providing a straightforward path for students to complete two degrees fits into the university’s Prosperity Agenda, an organizing framework that connects directly to the community and supports the university’s strategic plan.

“These Pathways have wide-ranging benefits not just for students and families, but for all of Michigan,” Clabo says. “One of the pillars of the university’s Prosperity Agenda is to accelerate mobility for our students. We know the power that education has to positively impact students' life trajectories, and it fosters generational change and societal advancement.” 

Several of the programs allow students to transfer more than 60 Macomb credits to WSU, as well as participate in University Honors and accelerated master’s programs. Programs include:

Mike Ilitch School of Business: accounting, finance, global supply chain, management, marketing and technology, information systems and analytics

College of Education: exercise and sport science, community health

College of Engineering: computer science, construction management, electronic/electrical engineering technology, mechanical engineering, mechanical engineering technology, and welding and metallurgical engineering technology

College of Fine, Performing, and Communication Arts: communication studies and public relations

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences: criminal justice, history, law and public health

Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences: applied health sciences

School of Social Work: social work

Ahmad Ezzeddine, vice president of Academic Student Affairs and Global Engagement at Wayne State, says Pathways will help Macomb students and families save money by eliminating the loss of credits earned at Macomb and transferred to Wayne State.

“The program also supports the state’s ‘Sixty by 30’ goal to increase the number of residents with a college degree or professional credential to 60% by the year 2030,” he says. “An educated workforce will build and sustain our state’s prosperity and will help retain talent in Michigan.”