Interstate Passport

WICHE - Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education

Black Hills State University is a member of the Interstate Passport Network, which provides a framework for block transfer of lower-division general education based on learning outcomes in nine areas:

• Foundational skills: oral communication, written communication, quantitative literacy
• Knowledge of concepts: natural sciences, human cultures, creative expression, human society and the individual
• Crosscutting skills: critical thinking and teamwork/value systems.

Each network member institution has its own "passport block": a menu of lower-division general education courses and learning experiences by which a student can earn the passport. Students who complete BHSU's General Education requirements with a minimum grade of “C” or its equivalent in each course or learning experience will be awarded the passport by our institution. Those students who later transfer with a passport to another network institution will have their learning recognized; they will not have to repeat or take additional courses to satisfy lower-division general education requirements in the passport’s nine areas.

The passport offers students:

• An early milestone on the way to a credential
• Advance knowledge that lower-division general education learning in the passport’s nine areas will be recognized upon transfer to another network institution
• The potential for faster time to degree, lower cost, less debt and lower foregone earnings from unduplicated learning
• A streamlined transfer process and a greater likelihood of successful transfer and completion