College transfer students seeking placement in competitive engineering, business and other programs now have another local option.
Henry Cogswell College on Friday formally expanded partnerships with Everett and Edmonds community colleges, making it easier for students to transfer into its engineering, computer science, digital arts and professional management programs.
The 230-student private school in downtown Everett is looking to double its enrollment over the next five years, and has the space.
“The big advantage is now that the big four-year colleges have no room, students have nowhere to go. We’re trying to provide that opportunity,” said Homer Garcia, the college’s president.
The college serves full- and part-time students. Established in 1979, the school retains its close ties to Boeing, which commissioned and supported its birth as a place for employees to get evening training.
Cogswell already had agreements with EvCC and EdCC for engineering. But the connection was not well publicized, admissions counselor Jennifer Payne said. Besides expanding transfer options, Payne also will work part-time at the community colleges as a student adviser.
“It’s not just a list of classes on a piece of paper but a real partnership between the schools,” she said.
Under the agreements, certain courses at EvCC or EdCC will be accepted with full credit at Cogswell.
A four-year institution will at times require transfer students to retake courses with its own staff, said Mary Hale, interim executive vice president of instruction at EdCC.
“Having these upfront agreements … will be of great value to students,” she said.
At EvCC, first-year business major Bryan Grote, 24, said the partnership is a good idea.
“It’s convenient, beneficial and gives kids more options,” he said. “But for me personally, it doesn’t matter, because I want to go to (the University of Washington). … I think I should be able to get in. I’m being very careful.”
The UW also is the program of choice for engineering students at EvCC, said Al Friedman, dean of science, math and occupation.
But he cautioned that many transfer students these days are finding closed doors at the UW. “Their choice is to go to the other side of the state or stay here,” he said.
EvCC leaders expect as many as 40 students in the school’s engineering, business and graphic arts programs to transfer to Cogswell each year under the new partnership.
Right now, only “a few” choose Cogswell, Friedman said.
Cost could be one factor. Two trimesters at Cogswell cost $15,840, nearly three times the cost of three undergraduate quarters at the UW.
Other local options for business students include Central Washington University-Lynnwood and UW-Bothell, said Pat Sisneros, dean of business and applied technology at EvCC.
Cogswell now is working on crafting similar agreements with Cascadia, Shoreline, Bellevue and South Seattle community colleges, along with Lake Washington Technical College and Olympic College.
As enrollment grows, Garcia said Cogswell also hopes to expand its programs to include game design, criminal justice and a master’s in professional engineering, among other programs.
Reporter Melissa Slager: 425-339-3465 or Jmslager@heraldnet.com.
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