Photo provided to the Times Observer Officials with the Northern Pennsylvania Regional College and University of Pittsburgh at Bradford signed an agreement this week to allow students in three NPRC programs to transfer into bachelor programs at Pitt-Bradford. In the photo are, front, from left, NPRC President Susan Snelick and Pitt-Bradford President Rick Esch and, back, Ben Blood, NPRC Director of Arts and Sciences; Dr. Ben Malczyk, NPRC Vice President of Academics; Dr. Jeff Johnson, Pitt-Bradford Vice President and Dean of Academic Affairs and Dr. James Baldwin, Vice President for Enrollment Management.

An agreement signed this week between the Northern Pennsylvania Regional College and University of Pittsburgh at Bradford will open doors for some NPRC students.

The “guaranteed transfer agreement” will allow NPRC students in three associate degree programs to transfer into bachelor’s programs at Pitt-Bradford.

The signing ceremony was held at Pitt-Bradford on Wednesday.

“The signing of this academic agreement with the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford provides a wonderful opportunity for our students, continuing their pathway beyond an associate’s degree, to realize their dream,” NPRC President Susie Snelick said.

“NPRC meets students where they are and provides multiple pathways to advance along their educational journey. We are excited for this opportunity and to work alongside Pitt-Bradford as we collaborate for the betterment of our region.”

The three programs impacted by this agreement are NPRC’s associate programs in Liberal Studies, Business Administration and Criminal Justice.

NPRC students looking to make the move will be required to have a GPA of 2.0 or higher, meet NPRC’s graduation requirements and be recommended by NPRC’s articulation agreement program liaison.

“Additional eligibility criteria may be imposed for NPRC students seeking to transfer into certain Pitt-Bradford majors that may have stricter admissions requirements, including nursing, radiological science, and engineering,” NPRC said in a statement.

“We are excited to collaborate with our colleagues at Northern Pennsylvania Regional College and to provide students from NPRC with a seamless matriculation process to Pitt-Bradford,” Pitt-Bradford’s Dr. James Baldwin, vice president for enrollment management, said. “We are especially delighted to be able to provide those students with a guaranteed renewable transfer scholarship.

“This agreement is just one example of our efforts to support the success of Pennsylvania students.”

The five-year agreement will take effect next spring.

NPRC serves a 10-county region – Cameron, Crawford, Elk, Erie, Forest, McKean, Potter, Tioga, Venango, and Warren – and is headquartered at the former Warren National Bank building in downtown Warren.