Radford on Monday joined the growing list of Virginia universities that offer automatic admission to community college graduates who meet certain standards.

Students who get an associate degree from a transfer program at the state's 23 community colleges can start as a junior at Radford as long as they graduated with at least a 2.8 grade-point average.

Radford President Penelope Kyle, who once taught at Thomas Nelson Community College in Hampton, signed the agreement in Richmond.

The Virginia Community College System has similar agreements in place with 16 colleges or universities, including the for-profit University of Phoenix.

Virginia Tech's agreements say students who graduate with a 3.0 will be accepted at Tech's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences or College of Engineering. But a broader agreement is in the works.

The University of Virginia has a 3.4 GPA threshold and only allows automatic transfer to its College of Arts and Sciences.

Radford's agreement comes amid a state push to ease transfers from community colleges to four-year schools. In another example of that effort, legislators recently approved a new financial aid program. On Saturday the House and Senate approved a version of a program that offers up to $2,000 a year for three years of study at a four-year school. To qualify, students have to graduate from community college with at least a 3.0 GPA and demonstrate financial need. The full $2,000 is only for students studying engineering, math, nursing, teaching or science. Others can get up to $1,000 a year.

-- Albert Raboteau