Independent Study - Student Guarantee Program

Independent Study

If a student wishes to take a class by Independent Study, they must meet with an associate dean or a program director to see if the student meets the Independent Study application requirements. The Dean of the student’s program will have final approval of the application before a student may register for the class. The determination to offer a student an Independent Study shall be based upon a substantial rationale. The guidelines are listed below:

• The student has a minimum GPA of 2.5.
• The student has declared a degree or certificate and must complete the course in the current semester in order to meet graduation requirements.
• The course requested for independent study is not offered during the semester or summer session in other modalities (on another campus or online).
• The course is needed for the student to be able to continue in a progression of sequential courses (e.g., a 200-level course is required, but class enrollment does not meet requirement for regular course offering).

Student Guarantee Program

Any associate of applied science (AAS) graduate who is judged by their employer to be lacking in the technical job skills identified in the exit competencies for their specific degree program will be provided up to nine tuition-free credit hours of additional skill training if they meet all of the following conditions:

• The graduate must have earned the AAS degree in May 2018 or later in an occupational program identified in the college catalog.
• The graduate must have completed the AAS degree at MCC (with a majority of the credits being earned at MCC) and must have completed the degree within a four-year time span.
• Graduates must be employed full-time in an area directly related to the area of program concentration.
• Employment must commence within 12 months of graduation.
• The employer must certify, in writing, that the employee is lacking entry-level skills identified by MCC as the employee’s program competencies and must specify the areas of deficiency within 90 days of the graduate’s initial employment.
• The employer, graduate, faculty, and associate dean must develop a written education plan for retraining. The plan is to be approved by the Dean of the student’s program.
• Retraining is limited to nine credit hours related to the identified skill deficiency and to those classes regularly scheduled during the period covered by the retraining plan.
• All retraining must be completed within a calendar year from the time the educational plan is agreed upon.
• The graduate and/or employer is responsible for cost of books, insurance, uniforms, fees, and other course-related expenses.
• The guarantee does not imply that the graduate will pass any licensing or qualifying examination.
• The graduate’s sole remedy against MCC and its employees for skill deficiencies shall be limited to nine credit hours of tuition-free education under conditions described above.