Articulation Agreements

Minnesota professional development pathways include articulation agreements that facilitate students' movement from one professional development level to another. Articulation refers to the ability to take credits from one educational institution and use them at another. An Articulation Agreement is an agreement between two or more colleges or universities. In Minnesota articulation agreements are generally handled on a college by college basis.

Types of Articulation Agreements

This link shows examples of agreements and/or infrastructures that facilitate students' movement from one academic level to another.
If you have a two year AA or AS degree in early childhood education or a related field, most colleges will count all or most of an AA or AS toward a four year degree. However, if you have an AAS degree, some colleges may count most of the credits from your AAS towards a four year degree in the same area, while other colleges will accept only a few credits. Articulation agreements can make a big difference in how many additional credits you have to take to earn your four year degree.
Some colleges will also count a current CDA for 6-10 credits towards a degree or conduct prior learning assessments for learning gained outside the college classroom.
More and more settings are looking for early childhood educators who have two or four year degrees in child development or early childhood education. For early childhood professionals looking at the possibility of getting a degree, identifying schools that have articulation agreements or give credit for prior learning is an essential component in the college planning process.

The following universities or colleges have articulation agreements with the early childhood programs. This list may help you in your college planning process. However, you will need to contact the individual colleges to determine the amount of credits that will transfer from one institution to another. Not all of the articulation agreements listed allow you to use all your credits from your AAS degree towards a four year degree. In addition this list will change as additional agreements are created or current agreements cease to exist.

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Articulation Agreements for the National Child Development Associate (CDA)

Degree seeking students enrolled in several Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MNSCU), who are also recipients of the Child Development Associate credential (CDA) through the National Council for Professional Development can convert that training to college credit. A Child Development Associate (CDA) is an individual who has successfully completed the CDA assessment process and has been awarded the CDA Credential. CDA credentialed practitioners can obtain:

6-8 lower division credits through the MNSCU Community and Technical Colleges
6 upper division credits through Metropolitan State University http://archive.metrostate.edu/ecap/college_credits.html
10 lower division credits through Bemidji State University. For more information, please contact Cherry Brouwer, Child Development Training Program Coordinator at (218) 755-3779

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Articulation Agreement Resources

Minnesota u.selet

u.select is a multi-state, web-based transfer information system that provides students with fast and accurate course and transfer equivalency information. U.select helps students view program requirements, course equivalencies, and see how courses they have taken or plan to take transfer to another college or university. Minnesota u.select is a collaborative effort by Minnesota State Colleges and Universities and the University of Minnesota. https://mn.transfer.org/cas/index.jsp

MN Transfer

MN Transfer is an efficient Web service that enables students and advisors to access official, consistent and accurate transfer information. This Web site can be used to locate articulation and transfer agreements; course equivalencies tables; transfer guidelines and procedures; the Minnesota General Education Transfer Curriculum; a listing of transfer specialists from system institutions, the University of Minnesota and private colleges; access to all campus Web sites; financial aid and scholarship information; an extensive glossary; transfer FAQs; fall, spring, and summer courses; and other links to colleges and transfer sites. http://www.mntransfer.org/