Wisconsin Student Government -
Credit Transferability Horror Stories

Shari Prag's Story:

My story will be extremely similar to others you will see and read. Why is mine first? Perhaps it’s as simple as I am the webmaster and know this subject all too well. Or perhaps I just had the option of submitting mine first. Technically they are both correct.

Let me give you a little background on me and my story first before diving head first into it. I graduated from John Marshall Jr-Sr High School in 1976. Just to note: in 1980 it went to being just a high school and in May of 2010 it closed. John Marshall was located in Milwaukee just north of Capital Drive on 64th Street. I started there in 1970 as a 7th grader and graduated in 1976. From there I joined the Army and received degrees in Computer Operation and CommCenter Operations. That is all computer work and “back in the day” those computers filled entire rooms. From there, believe it or not, I attended Fox Valley Technical College and received certificates in Forklift Operation, Straight Truck Driving and Semi Driving! My first experience with Wisconsin Technical Colleges but by far my last. I drove semi for a few years before deciding to obtain a degree that I could use in an office setting. Enter Milwaukee Area Technical College-Mequon! Started in January of 1986 and graduated in May of 1988 with an Associate Degree in Business Management. What did that get me? A job at a temp service doing a variety of work for many different companies in Milwaukee. Now don’t get me wrong, I loved working for the temp service but it certainly wasn’t in my long term goals during school.

Next up I took a class in computers, FrontPage to be exact, at Moraine Park Technical College in Beaver Dam. That was in 2000. I passed the class with flying colors and decided computers were back in the front running for “what I wanted to do when I grew up”. But it would be 6 more years before I would venture back into the technical college system to obtain degree #3. But I would like to just note, computers have always been a big part of my life since High School. Probably why I keep coming back to them.

In January of 2004 I enrolled at Moraine Park Technical College in the Web Development degree program. I took the majority of my classes online and in May of 2006 I received my Technical Degree in Web Development in which I graduated with Honors. Now during the last semester I also enrolled in the Advanced Technical Certificate program of Multimedia for the Web. I would like to say that when I did receive the certificate in 2009 I was the ONLY person who will ever receive that certificate as the program was cancelled after I enrolled in it. So that is One Heck of an accomplishment! I also received that with Honor but certificates are not listed that way.

So what did all this education get me? Not much I am sorry to say. I sent out resumes to well over 150 companies to have interviews with 3 that all said “Well if you had a Bachelors Degree………” Seriously?  You have the nerve to say that to a person with 3 college degrees under her belt, well over the age of 40 and owns her own small business doing just what the college degrees trained me for? OKKKKKKKKKKKK so I guess now I have to go to a University to get that Bachelors Degree.
So let’s do a quick review, 4 Certificates, 2 Degrees, a total of 120 plus credit and a GPA between all of the degrees and programs of 3.41 and some great education and memories of all the different colleges I attended and graduated from. Not bad for an “old lady”, right? I mean, 3.41 GPA, any University should be thrilled to have me come to them to continue my education and obtain a Bachelor’s Degree from them, right? Well, that’s what I thought at any rate until I tried to apply to the UW System. The rude awakening I received shocked me to say the least.
I started the quest with the University of Wisconsin systems. So do I go for the Multimedia or Web Development Bachelors? Or do I venture out into Graphic Design to enhance what I have already been taught? First was UW-Stout. Sure, they could accept most of my credits but I have to move to Eau Claire. And even then I would have to take a bunch of classes over as “they felt what the technical colleges teach simply isn’t enough.” Right, so how long to get a bachelors degree in multimedia? 4 years. Why? Because I would end up taking most everything again and add the core classes into that. Gosh, that doesn’t sound right, cross Stout off the list. So let’s check UW-Milwaukee.

At UW-Milwaukee I could obtain the Bachelors in Graphic Design, probably, to enhance the degrees I already have. “Probably?” you ask.  Yes, you see before they would talk to me about credit transfers I had to enroll in the program, pay the fee and Then and Only Then would they would check into it. I asked them flat out why we could not do an unofficial transcript analysis and was told by the UW-Milwaukee personal that they “just don’t do that” and once they have my $35 they could. Well, what if I decide you aren’t willing to transfer enough, do I get that back? “No, that’s a processing fee”. How about NOT! I don’t pay to “see” if I am good enough for you.

So I started to check private colleges. Mount Mary was a bust but Concordia not only had a great program but did what the professor called “creative transfer of credits”, which apparently they can do. I started Concordia University Wisconsin-Mequon in the Fall of 2008 as an Advanced Transfer. They accepted 67 credits from the degrees I had obtained from my course work at the Wisconsin Technical Colleges from ALL of my degrees from them. I only had to take 5 core classes and the rest go directly to my degree programs. My major is Graphic Design and my minor is Marketing.  I will graduate in May of 2011 (3 years from the start but that is because of a light first semester), most likely with honors and my job outlook is shining brightly. I can not only apply everything I am learning to my own company but can use the skills as an employee of an outside company!

Will I ever use the UW system? I dislike saying never because never is a long time. That and I am a veteran and they do have many programs for me. But will I pay first to see if I want to go there without a guarantee they will accept all my credits from other programs? Highly Unlikely! I was born, raised and educated in this state and find it unacceptable the treatment received from the UW system. I for one never expected that in regards to a resident of the State. Shame to see a 52 year old being naïve, no?

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