The South Carolina Commission on Higher Education announced today that it is joining the Holistic Credit Mobility Acceleration Cohort, a national initiative to improve student success that modernizes how colleges recognize and transfer credit by providing more flexible and fair credit mobility.

Winthrop University and York Technical College join the CHE as affiliated members of the cohort, which is led by Complete College America in collaboration with Ithaka S+R and supported by Ascendium Education Group. 

South Carolina’s participants will engage with peers nationwide to implement strategies that simplify and expand credit transfer by validating learning from work and military experience and aligning academic pathways with workforce needs. 

“Whether students learn in a classroom, on the job, or serving their country—our systems should recognize that learning,” said CHE President and Executive Director Dr. Jeff Perez. “Driving effective credit mobility pathways leading to workforce-aligned degrees reinforces South Carolina’s commitment to student success and economic growth.”

This initiative builds on the Holistic Credit Mobility Framework, first developed by Ithaka S+R in 2022, which emphasizes student-centered and outcomes-driven credit recognition policies. It also complements ongoing state efforts to better connect education to employment and support lifelong learning.

“By improving credit mobility, we help more South Carolinians complete degrees aligned with the needs of our state’s economy, and we ensure increased momentum of learners on their educational paths by honoring their life experiences over preserving administrative practices that do not meet the needs of today’s learner or their institutions,” said Dr. Corey Gheesling, CHE associate director for workforce development. “This opportunity allows us to elevate our strategies for recognizing learning wherever it happens and create a leading model for credit mobility that will drive increased economic and workforce development.”

The recently released report Credit Mobility Strategies in Action, which profiles early innovators in this space, will serve as a foundation for the cohort’s work. The cohort will work together throughout the coming year to identify best practices, share lessons learned, and ultimately co-develop a national playbook that will guide future credit mobility reforms.