Collaboration Among Universities And Community Colleges In Developing Dual Enrollment Programs

Drexel University’s (DU) School of Technology and Professional Studies has been offering a cooperative-based Applied Engineering Technology (AET) major since 2002. This major is offered to Drexel’s students on a fulland part-time basis as well as to community colleges participating in dual-enrollment options. Such partnership programs with Burlington County College (BCC), Delaware County Community College (DCCC), and the Pennsylvania Institute of Technology (PIT) are described in this paper. The simplified articulated transfer agreement with the high school students of Middle Bucks Institute of Technology (MBIT) is also presented. The articulated transfer agreements were created in order to facilitate a pathway for transfer from Associate of Applied Science degrees in Engineering Technology (ET) and the Associate of Science degrees in Engineering into Drexel University’s Bachelor of Science degree in AET. The transfer students are offered three concentrations: Electrical Engineering Technology, Mechanical Engineering Technology, and Industrial Engineering Technology. By way of the transfer articulation agreements, the students from the community colleges, upon completion of the associate’s degree, may be granted either pre-junior or junior status by DU depending on the courses completed at the particular community college. The transfer students can also take classes on a fullor part-time basis. Since the majority of courses in the AET program are fully integrated with training and laboratory experience, the transfer students participate in hands-on laboratory activities using Drexel’s state-of-the-art laboratories. These laboratories also utilized during the nine-credit, three-term Senior Design Project sequence.