WELCOME to the Monroe College Advantage Plan – also called MAP – a unique option that allows students to participate in three full semesters in an academic year.
In addition, the MAP may help students plan a more affordable education. For example, Monroe scholarships and grants are –conditions apply – awarded to students each semester who maintain good academic standing and continuous registration for consecutive semesters.
The overall purpose of the MAP is to combine a number of already existing benefits at Monroe College – mainly, credit transfers for previous education, in order to make the Monroe College experience, though intense, more rewarding to all who are serious about completing higher education within a shorter period.
Traditionally, an academic year at an American university/college consists of two full semesters. Monroe College’s unique advantage is that an academic year consists of three semesters – an additional semester where students can earn 15 additional credits per year. In the traditional academic year, a student will earn 30 credits; a Monroe College student earns 45 credits. There is no wasting time.
When Monroe College arrived in St. Lucia in 2007, it brought its philosophy of “access and opportunity for all” which has always been the college’s guiding principle from the start, some 81 years ago. Monroe College is proud to have provided that opportunity over the past eight years to thousands of St. Lucian and Caribbean students. For one reason or other, many of these students had either placed their dreams of earning a bachelor’s degree on hold and only saw the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel to move beyond an associate’s degree.
Many students come to Monroe College from community colleges across the Caribbean, already possessing an associate’s degree, which in the American education system represents two years’ worth of credits towards a four year bachelor’s degree. These credits are called TRANSFER credits. Every accredited American educational institution uses transfer credits as a pathway for their students achieving their educational goals….faster. However, each institution sets its transfer policy, including the acceptance of credits for Non-traditional Education, Prior Learning Experience, By Examination, etc. Monroe College accepts credits for courses competed at UWI and NRDF; and, for example, grants credits through the Police Training Academy to recruits successfully completing the Basic Police Training Course.
At Monroe College, courses completed at accredited institutions – with grades A to C will be considered for transfer. St. Lucia and many OECS countries do not have accrediting bodies and so Monroe has enter MOUs – Memoranda of Understanding – with the community colleges – to allow their credits to be transferred toward their bachelor’s degrees.
Monroe College, an accredited American institution, has taken its responsibility of sitting at the table of higher education opportunity for St. Lucian and regional students with the knowledge that time does not stand still and that education – with increasing options in delivery and offering today’s students increasing flexibility – is ever evolving to meet the demands of a world that is faster in motion and where tradition can stand in the way when transformation holds sway. For more information on MAP, please call Mrs. Keija Nichols at 456-3214.