North Carolina’s Reverse Transfer Program is a state initiative in which students are rewarded for credit they have already earned or will earn at the four-year university. The program is designed to award an associate degree to students who previously attended a North Carolina Community College and fulfilled the associate degree requirements while working towards a bachelor’s degree at a North Carolina university.
If you are awarded the Associate in Arts or Associate in Science degree through the Reverse Transfer Program and you meet the requirements of the North Carolina Comprehensive Articulation Agreement (NCCAA), ECU will honor the degree to meet the General Education requirements. You must still meet the General Education Health/Exercise and Sport Science requirement as well as any required General Education courses of your major if those courses were not completed at the NC Community College. If you have already met the university General Education requirements through earned credit, there will not be any adjustment made to your student record.
Please see the official Reverse Transfer Program FAQ’s for eligibility standards and additional resources.
By virtue of choosing to participate in the Reverse Transfer Program, you sign an agreement stating that you will follow ECU’s curriculum towards the baccalaureate degree and that you understand that academic advisors at East Carolina University cannot provide advising for community college coursework. It is your responsibility to understand your community college requirements for completing an associate degree. ECU will electronically send your records to the appropriate community college. The community college will evaluate your credits to determine your eligibility for the associate degree. To explore potential Transfer Plan guides, click here.
Once you “opt in” no further action from you is required; however, we do recommend you contact your community college to let them know you have opted-in.
How to Opt In/Opt Out of the Reverse Transfer Program:
To be eligible to Opt In, you must have a total of 60 or more hours showing in ECU’s system. You can check your total overall hours (including any transfer work) in PiratePort through DegreeWorks. Once you opt-in, if you click on the Reverse Transfer option in PiratePort again, it will show you are ineligible. This is because you already opted-in.
What happens after you opt-in?
1. Your information is submitted to the UNC System, which oversees all of the public universities in North Carolina.
2. The UNC System adds your information to their database.
3. It is the responsibility of your community college to view the information in that database and complete the graduation process.
4. Once your community college notifies you of your graduation, please submit an official transcript back to ECU so we can waive your General Education requirements.
We recommend students contact their former community college once they have opted-in to let them know they are interested in obtaining a Reverse Transfer.