After graduating in December, Elizabeth Hieken, now a student at St. Louis Community College (STLCC) – Wildwood, had to decide her plans for higher education.

Hieken said she was not planning on going to college. However, she found a passion for business, which led to a plan to major in business administration and marketing.

To earn this degree, Hieken said she wanted to go to a 4-year-university, but was worried about the student debts she would incur.

“I was never going to go to community college. That was never my plan,” Hieken said. “My mom lives in Tampa and the goal was to go to college there.”

What finally helped her decide on her path for higher education was the CORE 42 program.

CORE 42, a new program for transferring credits, went into effect for all public Missouri colleges and universities at the start of the 2018-2019 school year as part of Senate Bill 997. This program gives a specific group of entry-level college courses a Missouri Transfer (MOTR) number. This guarantees that, by law, credits will transfer between any public Missouri universities. Credits can be transferred between two 4-year universities, between a community college and a 4-year university, or between two community colleges.

She decided to enroll in STLCC – Wildwood after learning about CORE 42 classes. Hieken is currently enrolled in four CORE 42 classes: Biology 1, Public Speaking, Quantitative Reasoning and College Composition.

Universities outside of Missouri are not required by law to accept credits with MOTR numbers, but Hieken said the 4-year university she wants to attend is clear about which classes they will accept, meaning taking CORE 42 classes is useful for her even though she is not planning on transferring to a public Missouri school.

Hieken said taking CORE 42 classes has reduced her stress about transferring credits.

Hieken said before CORE 42 was created, her brother transferred from Mizzou to STLCC – Wildwood. She said the process was confusing and frustrating for him, and he had to repeat classes in order to actually receive the credits.

Now, Hieken said, the process is more seamless.

“We were able to look at exactly what classes I needed to take and what credits I needed to get while I’m here at Wildwood to help me when I’m in Florida, so it’s really, really helpful,” Hieken said.

Dr. Steve Collins, interim associate provost of STLCC – Wildwood, said that classes under CORE 42 now have the same learning outcomes at each public Missouri school. Dr. Collins said representatives from Missouri’s public universities and community colleges met to determine which courses would fall under CORE 42 and what knowledge students needed to take away from these classes.

Dr. Collins said STLCC has been altering curriculums and is adding CORE 42 classes not previously offered.

“It’s kind of a living process, we’re constantly updating the curriculums,” Dr. Collins said.

Eileen McGinnis, senior, is planning on attending community college on a softball scholarship.

After community college, McGinnis said she will either continue playing softball or transfer to Mizzou or Missouri State to major in education.

McGinnis said CORE 42 is important because you get the credit no matter what.

“Not taking a class twice would be good because I wouldn’t have to take a hard class again. It would be guaranteed to show up on my transcript and I wouldn’t have to work really hard to get an ‘A’ again,” McGinnis said.

McGinnis said people will like the initiative because many students end up going to community college or transferring universities. She said it will definitely be helpful to have credits that are guaranteed to transfer.