Community College Transfer Students Research Articles

Community college transfer students’ probabilities of baccalaureate receipt as a function of their prevalence in four‐year colleges and departments

The present paper determines whether community college transfer students have higher baccalaureate rates when they enroll in four‐year colleges and departments that have larger shares of transfer students. Transfers attending non‐technical campuses with larger shares of transfers have higher eight‐year baccalaureate rates, but within‐campus increases in share transfers do not increase transfer graduation rates. Transfers in departments with large shares of transfer students have significantly lower graduation rates, but natives in such departments do not. Within‐department increases in transfer student presence are positively correlated with transfer eight‐year graduation rates and negatively correlated with native eight‐year graduation rates, indicating an opportunity for efficiency gains if influxes of transfers are separated from natives.

Comparing the Educational Attainment of Community College Transfer Students and Four-Year College Rising Juniors Using Propensity Score Matching Methods

The main objective of this study is to test whether junior-level four-year college students who initially attended a community college have similar educational outcomes as college juniors who only attended a four-year college. The results suggest that there are no differences in the outcomes of community college transfers and rising juniors.

After Transfer: The Engagement of Community College Students at a Four-Year Collegiate Institution

This study investigated how educational experiences between community college transfer students and native students differed at a four-year institution. The study sample included groups of native students and community college transfer students, who were further divided by timing of matriculation to the study institution. Benchmarks from National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) were used to assess the levels of students' collegiate experiences. After controlling for various explanatory variables, timing of matriculation to the senior institution showed significant differences in student engagement. Moreover, enrollment status, such as full- and part-time presented the largest effects on the levels of students' educational involvement regardless of student type.

Community College Transfer and University Native Students' Participation in Teaching

Students who graduated from a teacher education program at a large public university were contacted to determine if they were teaching. Those who were teaching were also asked if they were teaching in the communities where they lived prior to attending college. A comparison of the graduates who were community college transfer students and graduates who were university native students was conducted. The results indicated that community college transfer students were less likely to be teaching following graduation, but that those transfer students who were teaching were as likely as native students to be teaching in their communities.

Hispanic Student Success: Factors Influencing the Persistence and Transfer Decisions of Latino Community College Students Enrolled in Developmental Education

This study examined the impact of a set of theoretically-derived predictor variables on the persistence and transfer of Hispanic community college students. Early models of student persistence have been validated primarily among 4-year college students. While the constructs have been well-established, the relationships of those relevant factors remain unexamined among community college transfer students, and specifically, among Hispanic students enrolled in developmental coursework and planning to transfer from a community college to a 4-year institution. Logistic regression analysis was used to test the hypothesized conceptual framework on an existing set of quantitative persistence data drawn from a national sample of Hispanic students.

Baccalaureate Attainment and College Persistence of Community College Transfer Students at Four-Year Institutions

Studying factors that predict bachelor’s degree attainment has generated considerable empirical interest over the past few decades. Relatively few studies, however, have focused on community college transfer students and the unique factors that predict their educational outcomes. Utilizing the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 and Postsecondary Education Transcript Study, this research tested logistic regression models to predict baccalaureate attainment and college persistence among high school graduates of 1992 who attended community colleges first and eventually transferred to four-year institutions. Results indicate that the probability of attaining a bachelor’s degree among these students is significantly associated with gender, SES, high school curriculum, educational expectation upon entering college, GPA earned from community colleges, college involvement, and math remediation. Perceived locus of control and community college GPA are significant predictors of persistence. Implications for policy and future research are also discussed.

2+2 Statewide Articulation Policy, Student Persistence, and Success in Florida Universities

The reported study in this paper examined the continuing viability of Florida's 2+2 articulation agreement by comparing academic success and persistence among Florida public community college graduates (n = 1,738) and native (n = 874) juniors at three universities. Discriminant analysis yielded statistically significant differences. Transfer students graduated with fewer lower level courses in upper division and fewer cumulative credit hours than native students. Discriminant analysis did not yield appreciable differences in the final grade point averages of student graduates, indicating that community college transfer students performed just as well academically as native students. Chi-square tests of independence indicated that a greater percentage of transfers dropped out prior to graduation. These findings support the conclusion that community college transfers are academically competitive, but they may benefit from retention services and programs that engender student engagement.

The Academic and Social Integration of Persisting Community College Transfer Students

This qualitative study sought to discern the applicability of Tinto's theory of the importance of academic and social integration to students' persistence by interviewing community college transfer students who had persisted for several semesters in a large, public, research extensive university. Twelve students who participated in a 2004 study about factors affecting the transfer process and their subsequent integration into the receiving institution were interviewed again in 2006 about their academic and social integration into the university. The researchers found that persisting community college transfer students' academic and social integration needs appeared to be different from those of first-year, traditional-age college students at a residence-oriented 4-year institution. The primary institutional influences affecting their integration were university size, the opportunity to join clubs in their major, and the opportunity to conduct research with a professor. Individual or situational influences were working and living off-campus and having the goal of completing the baccalaureate, but not necessarily at the receiving university.

Retention and Matriculation Obstacles and Opportunities for Southeast Asian Community College Transfer Students

This qualitative case study of twenty Southeast Asian students at a flagship public research university suggests that it is illogical to view them as the “model minority” so often described in the literature. Their experience is not the same as that of students from other Asian ethnicities. They struggle with similar issues that challenge other students who come from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. However, the students in this study did discuss two issues that might be more unique to them: immigrant status and the importance of the ethnically based student organization as a means of support and belonging.

A Successful University-Foundation Partnership to Assist Non-Traditional Transfer Women

This qualitative report examines a successful public university program funded by the Avon Foundation to provide scholarship and support services to non-traditional female community college transfer students. Female commuter transfer students often manage multiple roles of parent, student, and employee while attending college. This article identifies how academic and social integration occurs through the provision of scholarships, peer meeting, mentoring, early orientation to academic resources and counseling on personal and academic issues. The findings have implications for the design of university services that could enhance retention among this group of students.

"A Hand Hold for A Little Bit": Factors Facilitating the Success of Community College Transfer Students to a Large Research University

To understand factors affecting the academic and social integration of community college transfer students, we interviewed 19 students who transferred to one state's large Research-Extensive university. We inquired about the transfer process, efforts of the university to orient and assist them, and perceptions of the university versus the community college. Findings indicate that community college transfer students may need more assistance initially than they are given, partly because of the large size of the university. In addition, transfers from community colleges need to understand how a research institution's institutional mission affects faculty and student behavior. Student affairs staff may need to lead the way in fulfilling four-year institutions' responsibility for integrating community college transfers into the fabric of the institution.

The Process of Transition for Community College Transfer Students

ABSTRACT Our understanding of transfer students’ transition from the community college to the 4-year university has recently expanded. The following presents research on community college transfer students, as well as potential implications based on a recent study on the process of transition for community college transfer students (Flaga, 2002). From a study that tracked students throughout their first year at a 4-year university emerged Flaga's dimensions of transition: Learning Resources, Connecting, Familiarity, Negotiating, and Integrating. The implementations discussed will assist academic and student affairs professionals with developing programs or enhancing current academic advising and programmatic efforts for future transfer students.

STUDYING TRANSFER STUDENTS: PART I: INSTRUMENT DESIGN AND IMPLICATIONS

The experience of community college transfer students at four-year institutions has been well documented by studies characterizing their adjustment process as “transfer shock.” A popular paradigm, the transfer shock concept only describes the cognitive outcome of students’ academic adjustment as measured by GPA. Numerous researchers have utilized various instruments to collect data from transfer students to assess their experiences at four-year institutions. Many of these studies have focused on traditional outcome measures such as levels of engagement, involvement with faculty and campus life, and satisfaction. Only recently have researchers been interested in attempting to uncover the psychosocial experiences of transfer students at four-year institutions. The objective of this article is to add to the literature by describing the Laanan-Transfer Students’ Questionnaire (L-TSQ)©, which can be utilized as a data collection tool to better understand transfer students’ adjustment process at four-year institutions. The purpose of this article is three-fold: (1) to provide the theoretical framework guiding the development and design of the L-TSQ; (2) to discuss the instrumentation and psychometric properties of the L-TSQ; and (3) to articulate the benefits of the L-TSQ with respect to research and policy implications. The goal of this article is to provide new ways of studying transfer students at four-year institutions. With the increasing diversity among transfer students, assessment of their experiences would yield valuable benefits to researchers, student affairs professionals, faculty, and administrators at both the two- and four-year environments.

Fueling education reform: historically black colleges are meeting a national science imperative.

Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are playing a critical role today in helping America overcome a looming shortage of scientists and engineers who are vital to the nation's future economic growth and competitiveness. Despite meager funding and a lack of public recognition, these educational institutions are producing a large share of the nation's African American graduates in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

Assessing the Transition of Transfer Students from Community Colleges to a University

The purpose of this study was to examine how pretransfer experiences and preparation, along with posttransfer experiences, influence the adjustment of community college transfer students (as measured by academic achievement and satisfaction with various aspects of the university experience) to life on a four-year university campus. A survey of 372 community college transfer students attending a large, public four-year university provides empirical evidence that those students who are best informed and who have most actively prepared for transfer are most likely to achieve higher grades and be more satisfied in the university environment. The findings from this study also suggested that patterns of academic and social involvement shift as students move from two-year college settings to a four-year university. The article concludes with a discussion of strategies that can be instituted at both two and four-year institutions to assist community college transfer students in making a successful transition to a four-year college or university.

Assessing the Transition of Transfer Students from Community Colleges to a University

The purpose of this study was to examine how pretransfer experiences and preparation, along with posttransfer experiences, influence the adjustment of community college transfer students (as measured by academic achievement and satisfaction with various aspects of the university experience) to life on a four-year university campus. A survey of 372 community college transfer students attending a large, public four-year university provides empirical evidence that those students who are best informed and who have most actively prepared for transfer are most likely to achieve higher grades and be more satisfied in the university environment. The findings from this study also suggested that patterns of academic and social involvement shift as students move from two-year college settings to a four-year university. The article concludes with a discussion of strategies that can be instituted at both two and four-year institutions to assist community college transfer students in making a successful transition to a four-year college or university.

ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF COMMUNITY COLLEGE TRANSFER STUDENTS AND "NATIVE" STUDENTS AT A LARGE STATE UNIVERSITY

Students were randomly chosen from the class of 1998 and 1999 at a large public university. Fifty in each class were community college transfer students who transferred to the university in the fall of 1996 and fall of 1997; 50 in each class were native students who had entered the university in the fall of 1994 and the fall of 1995. All students were from the College of Arts and Sciences. These groups of students were compared by GPAs at the end of the lower division work (sophomore year for natives and at the end of the second year of community college work for transfers). Students also were compared at the end of their first semester in their academic major to determine if transfer shock was evident for transfer students and if a GPA decline was evident for natives. Lastly, the students GPAs were compared at the end of the spring semesters of 1998 and 1999 to determine if there was recovery from transfer shock for the transfers and from the possible decline in GPA for native students. Retention and graduation rates for both groups were compared.

Making the transition to the senior institution

AbstractThis chapter reviews the current literature on support programs tailored to assist the community college transfer student at the four‐year institution. The authors discuss useful strategies that may assist administrators and faculty members at four‐year colleges and universities in addressing the needs of transfer students through support programs. Support programs, academic performance, and the persistence of transfer students are discussed.

Is There a Post-Graduation Earnings Penalty for Community College Transfer Students Who Eventually Receive Baccalaureate Degrees?

Recent evidence suggests that students are increasingly choosing community colleges as their point-of-entry to post-secondary education. An important question, therefore, is how community college attendance impacts a student's economic future. This study is one of the first to examine early labor market outcomes for Baccalaureate degree recipients who transferred from a community college relative to those who did not. Selectivity corrected results for a sample of students drawn from the Baccalaureate and Beyond survey suggest that substantial earnings penalties exist for most community college transfers relative to non-transfers and university transfers. The notable exception is for Black students who are predicted to receive higher wages if they transfer from community colleges.

Developing and Assessing Statewide Competencies for Engineering Design

AbstractAn assessment system was developed and piloted in Washington state to evaluate the engineering design competence of community college transfer students and continuing students at Washington State University (WSU) and the University of Washington (UW). A multiple measured approach was employed consisting of a multiple‐choice assessment, a team design performance assessment, and an essay, each administered to junior level students at WSU and UW. These assessments covered important design and design‐related outcomes valued by the engineering community in Washington and expected of junior level engineering students. Scoring criteria were developed by engineering faculty for the team design and essay components. The assessment results provide faculty and other decision makers at community colleges and four‐year institutions with data they need to determine the extent to which students are meeting design competency expectations. Moreover, the approach described in this paper illustrates how institutions can productively address the ABET Engineering Criteria 2000 requirements by developing the assessment support that engineering educators need to make informed programmatic decisions and achieve continuous quality improvement.