ND and most prestigious universities do not want to award their degrees to students who have earned most of their credits at other schools. This is not a problem that ND's administration needs to solve. It is an NCAA problem and the NCAA must solve it. Exactly how they should solve it requires a thoughtful discussion, but one thing seems clear: The school at which the student has earned the most credits should award the degree.
This is especially true of credits earned in one's major, which is not to say that credits earned outside one's major do not matter. Admissions should evaluate the transcripts and grades of Portal students applying for acceptance to a university. That could remain a sticking point for ND and other elite undergraduate universities, but which school awards the degree should not be the problem.
To properly serve Portal students, the accepting university should be required to verify that the degree awarding university will accept credits earned at the accepting university and count them toward their degrees.
Further, the NCAA should not count the graduation of Portal transfers when calculating graduation rates at accepting universities. The NCAA created the easy transfer that forces all universities to participate in it in order to be able to compete. That would be good for ND. ND could accept very talented junior transfers and not worry about their graduation rate or the reputation of their degrees. They could focus instead on providing these students with an education program that meets them where they are and adds value to their intellectual development.
This is especially true of credits earned in one's major, which is not to say that credits earned outside one's major do not matter. Admissions should evaluate the transcripts and grades of Portal students applying for acceptance to a university. That could remain a sticking point for ND and other elite undergraduate universities, but which school awards the degree should not be the problem.
To properly serve Portal students, the accepting university should be required to verify that the degree awarding university will accept credits earned at the accepting university and count them toward their degrees.
Further, the NCAA should not count the graduation of Portal transfers when calculating graduation rates at accepting universities. The NCAA created the easy transfer that forces all universities to participate in it in order to be able to compete. That would be good for ND. ND could accept very talented junior transfers and not worry about their graduation rate or the reputation of their degrees. They could focus instead on providing these students with an education program that meets them where they are and adds value to their intellectual development.
