Charter Oak State College can award the Associate degree, the Bachelor of Arts degree, the Bachelor of Science degree, and, since 2015, the Master of Science degree. The bachelor's degree programs include several majors, as well as a General Studies degree with a wide selection of concentrations. Many Charter Oak State College alumni continue their education in graduate school. Charter Oak State College assists its students through a variety of academic support services including program planning, testing, and evaluation. The college also delivers online courses, serves as a testing center and provides credit registry services, as well as information regarding other educational opportunities. The college identifies qualified faculty from regionally accredited colleges and universities and other experts to assess academic achievement in areas not measured by standardized tests and to serve as mentors for programs such as online courses, contract learning, and practica. In recruiting these faculty and experts, the college actively seeks to identify educators who value the impact of broad and diverse experience acquired by students. Charter Oak offers credit for military training, testing, prior learning, credit previously evaluated by the American Council on Education, and for learning acquired through some licensing and certification programs. Charter Oak State College also assists other Connecticut colleges or universities seeking to provide their students with alternate ways to validate college-level learning, develops partnerships with the corporate and non-profit community to meet the state's workforce needs and through its Connecticut Credit Assessment Program and special assessments evaluates and formally recognizes non-collegiate learning regardless of how or where such learning is acquired. Charter Oak State College conducts institutional research and assessment to monitor and evaluate the progress and success of its students, graduates, and programs. The college uses the results of these assessments to evaluate its effectiveness and to make changes that respond to student, institutional, and societal needs.
Credit-residency requirements
Charter Oak offers transfer credit for course work completed successfully at other accredited institutions without the substantial credit-residency requirements imposed by other institutions. Most academic institutions require that a matriculated student complete an average of 30 credit hours through its institution in order to meet graduation requirements. Charter Oak State College limits their credit-residency requirement to 6 credits; a Cornerstone course and a Senior Capstone course are required for graduation. This can substantially reduce the amount of time it takes for a transfer student, who may have already accumulated a substantial amount of credit from other institutions, to complete their degree. On the other hand, there is a significant amount of controversy regarding the 3-credit residency cornerstone requirement and its necessity. Many students, alumni, and noted faculty, such as Carrie A. Picardi, a board advisor, and Frank J. Monaco, Charter Oak Course Developer, have argued that the cornerstone course is "fluff work," unnecessary, and a method for the college to generate money through arbitrary and deliberate means. Provost of the College, Dr. Shirley Adams, has stated that the cornerstone course was instituted as some faculty believed incoming students did not know how to think critically, cite papers properly, or write properly which would lead to academic issues in coursework taken at Charter Oak State College.
Student demographics
Charter Oak State College's adult students include the military, civilian federal and state employees, working adults pursuing first or second degrees, and students taking additional coursework in preparation for graduate school. Charter Oak State College's students are 65% female, 35% male and range in age from 17 to 72, with an average age of 39. 69% of Charter Oak's students are Connecticut residents.
