Student Safety
Student safety is an ongoing priority effort of USHE institutions and the Utah Board of Higher Education. Alongside federal statutes including the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, the Board adopted a student safety policy in 2015 to ensure consistent reporting and putting resources towards best practices.
USHE institutions have implemented extensive policies, programs, and partnerships to make USHE campuses safe. Established in 2019, S.B. 134, Campus Safety Amendments, enacted additional reporting requirements and training for student groups.
Utah Transfer Guide
A priority of the Board is to assist students in completing degrees and certificates quickly and affordably by ensuring that the academic credits they earn will transfer as seamlessly as possible between USHE institutions. Utah has a common course numbering system and policies guiding the transfer of credits between USHE institutions.
New priority strategies include the creation of a transfer council to determine transfer standards and best practices, improvements to existing transfer policies, and an upgraded electronic Utah Transfer Guide to help students make informed decisions about their transfer options. Major Committees, comprised of faculty from across the USHE institutions, will be aligning degree pathway articulations to help academic programs ensure quality, efficiency, and transferability of degree pathways and to make it easier for students to stay on track for graduation after transfer.
State Aid Programs
The State of Utah offers scholarships to Utah students for financial assistance in their postsecondary education. These scholarships include two academic, one needs-based scholarship, and one teaching scholarship. USHE also offers the students flexibility through the WICHE Professional Student Exchange Program.
K-12 Outreach
USHE focuses on the following key areas for its K-12 Outreach:
- Scholarships
- Concurrent Enrollment
- Utah College Application Week
- USHE Conference for School Counselors and Administrators
- Partnership with Keys to Success
Ensuring Affordability
Affordability is a key priority of the Utah Board of Higher Education. See the model for funding growth in Utah’s public higher education system and the process for setting tuition at USHE institutions.
Prior Learning Assessment
Prior Learning Assessment is a proven, validated process through which faculty subject matter experts evaluate a student’s previously learned competencies in a particular field and grant college credit when appropriate.
Students’ knowledge, competencies, and skills acquired through formal or informal education outside a traditional academic environment or at the initiative of the individual learner, including through participation in employer training programs, military service, and independent study may qualify for college credit through PLA.
R472 Credit for Prior Learning, passed in November 2019, establishes the process and standards by which students attending USHE institutions may earn academic credit through assessment of their prior learning.
