Articulation Agreements Defined

An articulation agreement is a binding legal document which defines parameters for a specific set of terms that are typically program specific and that are usually between two educational institutions. They are designed to build partnerships between two institutions.

There are numerous types of articulation agreements; course-by-course, general education, pathway agreements, specific courses for specific courses, tuition agreements, dual-credit agreements, or scholarship agreements.

A pathway agreement is one type of articulation agreement that is designed for students who have completed an associates degree that wants to then transfer and earn a bachelor’s degree.

Pathway Agreements include all of the following:

• Degree and graduation requirements from the 2-year institution
• Degree and graduation requirements from the 4-year institution
• General Education from 2-year institution
• If not certified through a general education agreement or student has an AAS degree, remaining general education courses from the 4-year institution
• A checklist of courses required for the agreement

These agreements are built into the system and are considered to be legal and binding.

Pathway agreements are typically viewed as two-plus-two types of agreements but can require greater than 120 hours to complete.

Pathway agreements tied to a program such as Gateway2NKU fall under an overarching articulation agreement and are monitored closely by the University Pathways and Articulation Committee (UPAC) to ensure that we are complying with the parameters of the formal partnership agreement.