Editorial: Surprises when moving within MnSCU

The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system's operation got high marks earlier this month from the Office of the Legislative Auditor. That's a major achievement for a bulky, 54-campus system that came into being via a politically dictated merger of three mismatched systems nearly 15 years ago.

Melding technical colleges, community colleges and state universities into a coherent system with a right-sized central office took much longer than expected. But the work has been done well, the audit said. Of 106 functions surveyed, 93 came back with positive assessments.

But one longstanding goal of the merger is not consistently met, the audit found. Students still find too many unpleasant surprises when they try to transfer credits from one MnSCU institution to another -- something 13 percent of more than 109,000 newly enrolling students at MnSCU schools did in 2008.

The audit was based on interviews with MnSCU administrators and student leaders, not a comprehensive survey. Its findings are anecdotal. They told of confusing information, cumbersome application processes (some students are asked to provide course syllabi from previously completed courses) and inconsistent criteria for transfer. Two-year college students too often find that credits accepted by one state university are not at another, the audit said.

As it should have, that finding registered with MnSCU board chairman David Olson and the chancellor's office. Olson, whose day job is president of the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, said he wants a plan for correcting transfer problems in place before his term ends in June.

Chancellor James McCormick's office is surveying students to get a more complete picture of the transfer situation. That's needed. A similar survey in 2007 found that 91 percent of credits earned at MnSCU schools and submitted to state universities for transfer were accepted. That's a reassuring finding. Here's hoping the new survey also examines how many students wanted to transfer credits but were deterred by restrictive rules or a burdensome process. Easy credit transfers within the system is a founding promise that MnSCU ought to consistently keep.