Students taking courses for an associate’s degree at East Central College can now also take classes for their bachelor’s degree at Missouri University of Science and Technology during the same semester as part of a new concurrent enrollment program.

Approved by the Missouri Department of Higher Education for inclusion in a state-wide pilot program, the concurrent enrollment program is designed to help students earn a degree in less time while spending less on college. Dr. Christopher G. Maples, Missouri S&T interim chancellor, and Dr. Jon Bauer, president of East Central College, formalized the agreement today (Friday, Oct. 13) during a signing ceremony on the Missouri S&T campus.

The concurrent enrollment program was established through legislation approved in 2016. Two students are helping pilot the program in the first year at East Central College, and more are expected to enroll in the spring 2018 semester.

East Central College and Missouri S&T have worked together for more than 40 years through a transfer agreement. That program allows qualified East Central College students to transfer into more than 40 different degree programs at Missouri S&T. Unlike the new concurrent program, however, the transfer partnership requires students to complete their studies at an East Central College campus before transferring to S&T.

East Central College, based in Union, Missouri, has satellite locations in the Missouri cities of Rolla, Sullivan and Washington.