NOCCA Students To Receive Credit In Their Academic & Arts Studies

An articulation agreement between Northwestern State University of Louisiana (NSULA) and the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA) will enable NOCCA graduates to matriculate with close to a year’s college credit on entering NSULA.

Under the memorandum of understanding to be signed on October 23, 2019, at 8:30 AM in the Ellis Marsalis Jazz Studio on NOCCA’s campus, graduates who have attended NOCCA can, under certain circumstances, receive college credit for several different arts courses. Graduates of NOCCA’s Academic Studio can also receive credit for college history and English courses.

“We are proud to enhance the partnership and offerings for students from NOCCA to attend Northwestern State University through this unique articulation agreement,” NOCCA President | CEO Kyle Wedberg stated. “Students will get credit and not have to pay for classes they have taken at NOCCA and will walk straight into higher level classes.  This is a huge win for both NOCCA and Northwestern State University because it is a win for students and their families."

“One of Northwestern State University’s greatest assets is its School of Creative and Performing Arts, a program that far exceeds expectations based on the university’s size and locale. This agreement between NOCCA and NSU provides an opportunity for some of Louisiana’s most talented high school students to earn college credit for the tireless work they commit to honing their crafts,” University of Louisiana System Board Vice Chair and NOCCA Board Member James Carter said. “As a NOCCA alumnus, I understand the rigor of the program and am excited to see the Center’s excellence being recognized by the university. I hope this prompts other universities to follow suit with similar agreements.”

As a NOCCA Alumnus and the Vice Chair for the Board of Supervisors for the University of Louisiana System, I am proud to have these two institutions sign an articulation agreement.  I believe this is exactly the kind of innovative partnership that can help education in Louisiana by retaining our most talented in state students through identification and investment in them."

Additionally, NOCCA Board Member and NOCCA Theatre Design Alum Gary Solomon, Jr. stated, “This agreement is a model that keeps us moving forward with our goals of developing talent and credentialing more students across state. From my dual roles as a Board Member with the state agencies of NOCCA and the Louisiana Board of Regents, I am pleased to see so much focus on initiatives like this which have the capacity to bring our state out of poverty and into prosperity through increased education attainment at all levels.”

Modeled on NSULA’s articulation agreement with the Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts, this articulation agreement recognizes the advanced arts training that NOCCA, as Louisiana’s high school arts conservatory, provides to students in the state. Benefitting from the agreement will be students of classical voice, classical instrumental, jazz, visual arts, theatre design, musical theatre, drama, and dance.

The agreement also recognizes the high quality of the Integrated Humanities courses in its innovative Academic Studio, NOCCA’s degree-granting high school curriculum, where students consistently score among the highest achieving schools in the state.

The agreement will apply to students entering NSULA in Fall 2020.