ERIC ED373844: At What Point Do Community College Students Transfer to Baccalaureate-Granting Institutions? Evidence from a 13-State Study.

26 Pages·1994·0.49 MB·English

by  ERIC

DOCUMENT RESUME
JC 940 495
ED 373 844
Palmer, James C.; And Others
AUTHOR
At What Point Do Community College Students Transfer
TITLE
to Baccalaureate-Granting Institutions? Evidence from
a 13-State Study.
American Council on Education, Washington, DC.
INSTITUTION
National Center for Academic Achievement and
Transfer.
PUB DATE
94
NOTE
26p.
Publications Department CCS, American Council on
AVAILABLE FROM
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*Articulation (Education); *College Attendance;
DESCRIPTORS
*College Credits; *College School Cooperation;
College Transfer Students; Community Colleges;
*Educational Mobility; Higher Education;
*Institutional Cooperation; Intercollegiate
Cooperation; Transfer Policy; Two Year Colleges
ABSTRACT
During the 1992-93 academic year, a study was
conducted by the American Association of State Colleges and
Universities to determine the proportion of students who transfer
from two- to four-year colleges after earning an associate's degree,
following the traditional "two-plus-two" sequence. A random sample of
50 four-year colleges and universities from 13 states were asked to
analyze the transcripts of those students who transferred from
community colleges in fall 1991. Study findings, based on information
students provided by 30
on 15,278 community college transfer
(1) 75% of the students
institutions, included the following:
remained at a community college long enough to earn at least 49
study, and
semester hours, the equivalent of 1.5 years of full-time
(2) only 37% earned the
57% earned at least61 semester hours;
associate degree before transferring, indicating that many of the
degree
students who earned 60 or more semester hours did not complete
requirements; (3) students transferring to doctoral institutions were
students
less likely to have earned associate's degree (287.) than
transferring to colleges not classified as doctoral institutions
(4) students lost relatively few credits upon transferring to
(43%);
the median number of
(5)
the baccalaureate-granting institutions;
credits earned was 63, and the median number of credits accepted for
60; and (6)
transfer by the baccalaureate-granting institutions was
evidence suggests that students who transfer successfully to
baccalaureate-granting institutions have relatively high levels of
academic ability and are as competent as students who begin their
(MAB)
post-secondary careers at four-year institutions.
44.
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Office of Educational Research and improoiment
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College
At What Point Do Community
Students Transfer to Baccalaureate-
Granting Institutions?
Evidence from a 13-State Study
lames C. Palmer
Meredith Ludwig
Laura Stapleton
Special thanks to the American Association of State Colleges
and Universities for its fine work
on this study
and to the participating institutions for their
extraordinary cooperation.
0 1994 American Council on Education
Printed in the United States of America
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced
or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the Publisher.
American Council on Education
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Washington, DC 20036
Additional single copies of this publication may he ordered at
no charge
from the American Council on Education.
Mail your request to:
Publications Department CCS
American Council on Education
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This publication was produced on a Macintosh Ilsi using Microsoft Word 4.0, and
Aldus PageMaker 5.0 software.
4
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
1
Credits Earned at the Community College
5
The Associate's Degree
9
Credits Accepted by Receiving Institutions
11
Summary and Recommendations
15
INTRODUCTION
The community college contribution to baccalaureate education
usually is associated with the first two years of a four-year under-
graduate program. Thus, many articulation agreements hinge on
the associate's degree, offering recipients of this credential (or its
equivalent) junior standing at the university) The underlying as-
will
sumption is that students seeking to earn a bachelor's degree
follow a "two-plus-two" sequence, completing the upper division
the commu-
at the university after finishing the lower division at
nity college.
But what proportion of students who transfer from two-year to
four-year colleges actually follow this traditional path? What pro-
This mono-
portion transfer prior to earning an associate's degree?
during
graph summarizes the findings of a study conducted
academic year 1992-93 to address these questions. The study was
of
carried out by the research office of the American Association
the
State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) with support from
National (,..enter for Academic Achievement and Transfer.' Fifty
randomly selected four-year colleges and universities from
students
13 states were asked to analyze the transcripts of those
colleges in
who had transferred to the institutions from community
and
the fall of 1991) Thirty institutions participated in the study
provided information on more than 15,000 community college
by
transfer students (Table 1, page 2)) Using tally sheets designed
distributions of
the researchers, each college provided frequency
the transfer students in terms of (1) the number of community
the
college semester hours of credit earned prior to transfer, (2)
1
6
Table 1
Sample of Community College Transfer Students
by Gender, Ethnicity, and Type of Receiving Institution
(n=15,278)
Receiving Institution
Doctorate
Granting Non-Doctorate Granting
Total in Sample
6,101
9,177
Gender
Female
50%
54%
Male
50%
47%
Total
100%
100%
Ethnicity
7%
Asian/Pacific Islander
8%
5%
Black
6%
Hispanic
6%
11%
American Indian/Alaskan Native
1%
1%
White, non-Hispanic
80%
75%
Total
100%
100%
number of community college semester hours of credit that were
accepted for transfer, and (3) the proportion of transfer students
that had earned the associate's degree prior to transfer.'
The study's limitations must be kept in mind when considering
the findings. First, the results are not derived from a representative
national sample of community college transfer students. Rather, an
attempt was made to analyze the experiences of community col-
lege students transferring to
random sample of 50 baccalaureate-
a
granting institutions in the states that account for a majority of
community college enrollments. Thirty colleges participated. Sec-
2 "'
ond, no attempt was made to verify that the participating colleges
actually used transcripts from community colleges while conduct-
ing the analysis. Indeed, three colleges could not provide data on
the proportion of students who had earned associate's degrees
prior to transfer. When asked why, they indicated that they used
their computerized student information systems to answer the
research questions, not the transcripts themselves. How this may
have skewed the data is unknown.
The results, which are offered as tentative hypotheses concern-
ing the ways in which students use community colleges prior to
transfer, show considerable variability in the number of credits
students earned at community colleges prior to transferring to
baccalaureate-granting institutions. However, three general trends
emerged:
The students' exposure to the community college was substan-
tial; most (75 percent) stayed at the community college long
enough to earn at 'cast 49 semester hours, the equivalent of one
and one-half years of full-time study.
Thirty-seven (37) percent earned the associate's degree before
transferring. Students transferring to institutions classified by
the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching as
doctoral institutions were less likely to have earned the
associate's degree than students transferring to colleges or uni-
versities not classified as doctoral institutions.''
The students lost relatively few credits upon transferring to the
baccalaureate-granting institutions.
With only slight variaEons, these findings held for all students,
regardless of gender and ethnicity. Major findings are described in
this document.
COLLEGE
CREDITS EARNED AT THE COMMUNITY
credits (semester hours)
Data on the number of community college
provided in Tables 2
earned by the students prior to transfer are
students had earned
and 3 (pages 6, 8). Approximately half of the
before transferring. Variations
63 or more semester hours of credit
earned by gender,
in the median number of semester hours
institution (doctoral
ethnicity, and type of receiving baccalaureate
small, with medians ranging from 60
versus non-doctoral) were
to 64.
student-by-
Though the range of semester hours earned on a
than 100), two-thirds of
student basis was wide (from one to more
hours at the
the students had earned between 49 and 84 semester
Only a small number of
community college before transferring.
credits. A mere
students transferred with either fewer or more
the credit-hour thresh-
3.6 percent had earned fewer than 12 units,
the Transfer Assembly
old utilized by colleges participating in
community college
Project to calculate transfer rates for first-time
slightly fewer semester
students.' Black students, who earned
likely to transfer
hours on average than other students, were more
Approximately 8 percent had
with a small number of credits.
earned fewer than 12 semester hours.
institutions, it is in-
Because community colleges are two-year
students (25 percent) had
teresting that a significant proportion of
beyond the minimum
earned 72 or more semester hourswell
for this cannot be
required for the associate's degree. The reasons
of community college
determined without knowing the types
completed. Some may have accumulated
courses the students
5
Table 2
DISTRIBUTION OF TRANSFER STUDENTS WITHIN QUARTILES
BY NUMBER OF SEMESTER-HOUR CREDITS EARNED
AT COMMUNITY COLLEGES PRIOR TO TRANSFER
Quartiles
First
Second
Third
Fourth
Semester hours
earned by:
1-49
All students
49-63
63-72
72+
1-47
47-63
Men
63-72
72+
1-50
Women
50-63
63-72
72+
White,
1-48
non-Hispanic
48-63
63-72
72+
Black,
non-Hispanic
1-36
36-60
60-70
70+
3-50
Hispanic
50-63
63-74
74+
Asian/
Pacific Islander
1-56
56-64 64-74
74+
American Indian/
4-56
Alaskan Native
56-64
64-73
73+
Students trans-
ferring to doctorate-
2-48
granting colleges
48-63
63-74
74+
Students transfer-
ring to non-doctorate
1-49
granting colleges
49-63
63-70
70+
Missing data=174 of 15,278 cases
credits in remedial courses before beginning college-level studies;
others might have explored various academic or vocational inter-
ests before settling on a program of study.
Whatever the reason, the data add to a growing body of evi-
dence that many students spend well beyond the equivalent of two
full-time years at community colleges. For example, Palmer and
Pugh studied the transcripts of baccalaureate graduates in Virginia
6
10