The Indiana Legislature is preparing a bill which would make more credits from two-year-degree colleges transferable to IU and Purdue. As it stands now, IU and Purdue's satellite campuses, as well as Ball State and ISU, generally accept more course credits from two-year schools than do the two flagship campuses (Bloomington and West Lafayette). \nHowever, if this bill were to pass, some of the degrees from the state's community colleges would become applicable toward four-year degrees at all state schools. Whatever benevolent purpose may be behind this bill, we feel the acceptance of transfer credits is something the schools themselves should decide and not the state legislature. Furthermore, allowing more credits to transfer will do nothing but dilute the value and meaning of a degree from IU.\nOne disturbing aspect of the proposal is that the state legislature is deciding the universities' policies for them. A state legislator's primary goal is to serve his or her constituents. And it's safe to assume that most people in the state, if given the choice, would rather attend a flagship campus than a satellite campus. This creates an incentive for legislators to vote for this bill because they could then go back to their constituents and say, "Hey look what I did. Now more of you can go to IU. Vote for me in 2004."\nOn the other hand, a university is better equipped to assess its own wants and needs. Its purpose is not to please voters, but rather to give the best education possible and to make sure its degrees are worth as much as possible.\nAllowing more credits to transfer to IU will only dilute the value and meaning of a degree from IU. Ivy Tech has a campus in nearly every state college town in Indiana, including Bloomington. With this proposal, Ivy Tech wins and IU loses. Students will be persuaded to attend Ivy Tech rather than IU. One in-state student can spend under $4500 for two years (60 credit hours) at Ivy Tech, while another can spend more than $9100 for 60 credit hours at IU. One will be educated at a Big Ten university and the other at a junior college. Yet upon entering their junior year at IU, they're both on equal footing, and both can graduate with a degree from IU in two more years. Why pay the difference if you get the same degree in the same time frame? This proposal is a slap in the face to anyone who has attended IU for his or her first two years; the legislature would essentially be telling you that your two years here were of the same quality as two years at Ivy Tech. Not only is that wrong, but it's also insulting.
-- Andrew LeMar for the Editorial Board
