Graduate Guarantee

Transfer Credit

The College guarantees to its Associate of Arts, Associate of Science, and Associate of Applied Science students who have met the requirements for the degree, beginning May 1993, and thereafter, that course credits will transfer to other public-supported Texas colleges or universities provided the following conditions are met:

1. Transferability means acceptance of credit toward a specific major and degree at a specific institution. These three (3) components must be identified by the student during the application for admission process prior to the first semester of enrollment at the College.
2. Limitations on total number of credits accepted in transfer, grades required, relevant grade point average, and duration of transferability apply as states in the general undergraduate catalog of the receiving institution.
3. Transferability refers to courses in a written transfer/degree plan filed in a student’s file in the Advising/Counseling Office at the College.
4. Only college-level courses with Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board Community College Academic Course Guide Manual approved numbers are included in this guarantee.

If all above conditions are met and a course or courses are not accepted by a receiving institution in transfer, the student must notify the Vice President for Instruction at Blinn College within ten (10) days of notice of transfer credit denial so the “Transfer Dispute Resolution” process can be initiated.

If course denial is not resolved, the College will allow the student to take tuition-free alternate courses, semester hour for semester hour, that are acceptable to the receiving institution within a one-year period from granting of a degree at the College. The graduate is responsible for payment of any fees, books, or other course-related expenses associated with the alternate course or courses.

Job Competency

If a recipient of an Associate of Applied Science degree or certificate in any program is judged by his or her employer to be lacking in technical job skills identified as exit competencies by the College, the graduate will be provided up to nine (9) tuition-free credit hours of additional skill training by the College under the conditions of the following guarantee. Special conditions which apply to the guarantee include:

1. The graduate must have earned the Associate of Applied Science degree or certificate beginning May 1993, or thereafter in a technical, vocational, or occupational program identified in the College’s general catalog.
2. The graduate must have completed requirements for the Associate of Applied Science degree or certificate with the College system, with a minimum seventy-five percent (75%) of credits earned at Blinn College, and must have completed the degree or certificate within a five-year time span.
3. Graduates must be employed full-time in an area directly related to the area of the program concentration as certified by the Vice President for Instruction.
4. Employment must commence within two (2) months of graduation.
5. The employer must certify in writing that the employee is lacking entry-level skills identified by the College and validated by the College program advisory committee as program exit competencies and must specify the areas of deficiency within ninety (90) days of the graduate’s initial employment.
6. The employer, graduate, applicable Instructional Dean, job placement counselor, and appropriate faculty member shall develop a written educational plan for retraining.
7. Retraining shall be limited to nine (9) credit hours related to the identified skill deficiency and to those classes regularly scheduled during the period covered by the retraining plan.
8. All retraining must be completed within a calendar year from the time the educational plan is agreed upon.
9. The graduate and/or employer is/are responsible for the cost of books, insurance, uniforms, fees, and other course-related expenses.
10. The guarantee does not imply that the graduate will pass any licensing or qualifying examination for a particular career pathway.

A student’s sole remedy against the College and its employees for skill deficiencies shall be limited to nine credit hours of tuition-free education under the conditions described above. Activation of the “Graduate Guarantee Program” may be initiated by the graduate by contacting the Vice President for Instruction within ninety (90) days of the graduate’s initial employment.

Program Accreditation Agencies

Service Learning Program

Blinn College offers Service Learning options to promote active learning, to encourage student engagement, to enable students to see the relevance of the academic subject to the real world, to increase student interactions with the community, and to develop civic responsibility. Service Learning combines community service with classroom instruction focusing on critical, reflective thinking and civic responsibility to engage students. Service Learning involves students in activities that address local needs while developing professional and/or academic skills. Service Learning is both a type of program and a philosophy of education - providing avenues for meaningful student service while reflecting established research on the effectiveness of experience based learning and student engagement. Students successfully completing designated courses that include a service learning component receive a service designation code on their academic transcript and may qualify for a special service learning cord of distinction upon graduation from Blinn College. For more information about Blinn’s Service Learning Program visit the website at www.blinn.edu/servicelearning/.

In 2011, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching selected Blinn College to be among the 115 U.S. colleges and universities nationwide awarded the Carnegie Community Engagement Classification for 2010. Blinn is one of six community colleges nationally selected for this designation. In order to be selected, Blinn provided descriptions and examples of institutionalized practices of community engagement that showed alignment to our mission, culture, leadership, resources and practices - all applications must show community service focus in both Curricular Engagement and Outreach and Partnerships. Blinn students and faculty participating in Service Learning enhanced courses have made a substantial contribution to furthering the College’s commitment to individual and community enhancement through educational excellence. Blinn College is proud to be designated a Carnegie Community Engagement institution. The Service Learning program has also earned Blinn College a distinguished place on The President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for five years. For more information about the Carnegie designation and a complete list of Community Engagement institutions, visit their website at www.carnegiefoundation.org.

Distance Learning

Distance Learning courses are those in which the majority (50% or more) of the instruction takes place when the instructor and student(s) are not in the same place. There are three types of distance learning courses at Blinn College: Online (Internet), Blended (Hybrid), and Interactive Video courses. The objectives and content of distance learning courses are the same as those offered in a traditional classroom setting. Although these courses allow students flexibility, they require a great deal of self-discipline and self-motivation. Students must have effective time management skills and be able to allocate sufficient time to complete the required coursework. Students are encouraged to test their suitability for distance learning courses by taking the free SmarterMeasure assessment at www.blinn.edu/online/students/.

Some distance learning courses may require specific software and/or hardware. To access Online and Blended courses from off-campus sites, a student must have access to a computer with a broadband Internet connection. Please visit the Blinn College Distance Learning website at www.blinn.edu/online/ for additional information.

Online (Internet) Courses

Students taking Online (Internet) courses work within a virtual classroom environment using the learning management system called eCampus. This system allows students to interact with their instructor and fellow classmates using a variety of tools. In the course schedule, Online (Internet) course section numbers begin with an “N.”

It should be noted that Online (Internet) courses may have mandatory face-to-face sessions, such as proctored tests, orientation, review, and laboratory, which total no more than 15% of the instructional time. For additional information, students should review the respective course syllabus.

Blended (Hybrid) Courses

A Blended (Hybrid) course is one in which the majority (more than 50 percent but less than 85 percent) of the planned instruction occurs when the students and instructor(s) are not in the same place. Students are required to attend the scheduled face-to-face class sessions in addition to the required online course sessions facilitated through the learning management system, eCampus. For additional information, students should review the respective course syllabus. In the course schedule, Blended (Hybrid) course section numbers begin with a “B.”

Interactive Video Courses

An Interactive Video course is one in which the instructor originates the course on one campus and the students are located at another site or campus (remote sites). The course schedule specifies the times and meeting location(s) of these courses. In the course schedule, Interactive Video course section numbers begin with a “V.”

Revised 1/31/2017