Limiting Credit Loss for Transfer Students

1. Limiting Credit Loss for Transfer Students Scott Tollison College of Business and Professional Studies Mississippi University for Women cstollison@muw.edu 662-329-7153

2. SACSCOC 2013 Position Statement • "transfer policies and procedures with a view toward making transfer of credit easier for students while continuing to honor their obligation to maintain academic quality and integrity" and not erect "artificial impediments" to student transfer. • Benefits: • "accountability, access, and equity in the higher education community“ • Student mobility • Efficiency of resource usage

3. The Artificial Barrier Largest barrier to bachelor’s degree completion NOT • Lowered expectations, • Vocational focus, or • Rigor BUT • Loss of credit upon transfer

4. Understanding the Problem • Financial loss • Time loss • Increased time to completion • Lower graduation rates

5. Understanding the Problem The problem of credit loss is most acutely borne by those students who can least afford it. • Low-income families • Underrepresented socioeconomic groups • Working students

6. Detailing the Problem Amount of credit loss: • State of Oregon: 18% • University of Connecticut: 21% • National: 28 SCH MUW CBPS Analysis: • Credit loss: 22% (~ 28 SCH) • Among A.D. transfers: • Median transfer: 84 SCH • 33% transferred over 100 SCH • 58% of transfer graduates accrued 18 or more hours of credit loss

7. Changing Perceptions • Strategies: • “overcome misconceptions about [community college] students’ abilities” • “to demonstrate to [four-year institution] faculty and staff that transfer students can excel academically” • Supporting Data (and anecdotes): • Western Washington University • Colorado State University • MUW CBPS

8. Ideas to Consider • Relationships and collaboration between institutions • Pre-enrollment credit evaluations • Articulation agreements • 2+2 agreements not a magical solution • Shared focus between general education and program prerequisites

9. Ideas to Consider • Co-enrollment and joint programming • Associate’s degree completion • Technical credit acceptance • Lifting of artificial transfer hour caps • New approaches to developmental education

10. Resources Connecticut Community College Transfer Students at the University of Connecticut http://www.chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/files/2015/05/conn.pdf New Evidence: Five Critical, Understudied Barriers to Transfer Success https://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/media/k2/attachments/new-evidence-barriers-transfer-success.pdf Oregon House Bill 2525 Final Report http://www.oregon.gov/HigherEd/Documents/HECC/2016%20Full%20Commission%20Meetings/06_June-9-16/9.1b.HB2525TransferStudentBillofRights_FinalReport.pdf

11. Resources The Promise of the Transfer Pathway http://www.jkcf.org/assets/1/7/promise_of_the_transfer_pathway.pdf Should Community College Students Earn an Associate Degree Before Transferring to a Four-Year Institution? https://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/media/k2/attachments/associate-degree-before-transfer.pdf The Transfer Playbook: Essential Practices for Two- and Four-Year Colleges https://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/media/k2/attachments/transfer-playbook-essential-practices.pdf

12. Resources Using Data Mining to Explore Why Community College Transfer Students Earn Bachelor’s Degrees With Excess Credits https://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/media/k2/attachments/using-data-mining-explore-why-community-college-transfer-students-earn-bachelors-degrees-excess-credits.pdf

13. Thank You!!!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!!!!! E-mail or call: cstollison@muw.edu 662-329-7153