STI & USD Agreement Benefits Health Majors

SIOUX FALLS, SD - A new partnership between Southeast Technical Institute and the University of South Dakota is paving the way for health sciences majors to further their education. Students can now earn both their associates and bachelors degrees without losing any credits.

The agreement is for students earning a two-year associates degree in health-related fields at Southeast Tech.  But many students want to go on to earn their bachelors. The problem is, most public universities don't accept tech school credits.

"They don't have a bachelors program for ENDT, so if I wanted to go on to get schooling, I'd lose all my credits I obtained at Southeast Tech," student Kayla Jarvi said.

"To go to a school and have them say, 'We won't take anything of yours,' is pretty disappointing for students who've worked very hard," Southeast Tech's Director of Health and Human Services Pat Bortnem said.

Bortnem says students were re-taking dozens of credits worth of classes. But now, the University of South Dakota is accepting 46 credits from Southeast's health major programs, as well as general education credits.

And it doesn't just work one way. It's a reverse-articulation, meaning students from USD can also finish up at Southeast Tech and still maintain their credits.

"So you could come here after USD to do your specifics then we do clinicals right after, so you could do clinicals and get right into the job," Jarvi said.

"You can do it your way. If you're the student, you get choices, and we won't put obstacles in your way; we're going to try to remove those obstacles," Bortnem said.

Making it easier than ever for students to go as far as they want with their education in the health care field.

USD is also offering a new Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences degree to go along with the new agreement, which can be completed in Vermillion, Sioux Falls or online.

Learn more about the STI/USD partnership online.