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An Alternate Approach to Studying Transfer Student Outcomes. Sam Houston State University Office of Institutional Research & Assessment. Suresh Gangireddy, GRA Lakshmi Kokatla, GRA. Fang Duan, Former GRA Xiaohong Li, GRA Rita Caso, Director. PRESENTATION OUTLINE.
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An Alternate Approach to Studying Transfer Student Outcomes Sam Houston State University Office of Institutional Research & Assessment Suresh Gangireddy, GRA Lakshmi Kokatla, GRA Fang Duan, Former GRA Xiaohong Li, GRA Rita Caso, Director TAIR 2008 Conference, 2/6/08
PRESENTATION OUTLINE • SAM HOUSTON STATE UNIVERSITY BACK GROUND • WHY DO WE STUDY TRANSFER STUDENTS? • HOW DO WE STUDY TRANSFER STUDENTS? • FREQUENTLY USED METHOD • PROPOSED NEW METHOD • COMPARING FREQUENTLY USED METHOD TO PROPOSED • NEW METHOD • CONCLUSION TAIR 2008 Conference, 2/6/08
ABOUT SAM HOUSTON STATE UNIVERSITY (SHSU) • Located in Huntsville, TX (Piney Hills, East TX) 90 miles north of Houston • Founded in 1879, member of the Texas State University System, and Carnegie Classified Doctoral, Professional Dominant • There are 79 undergraduate degree programs, 52 masters' programs, and 5 doctoral programs • There are 5 colleges within the university: Arts and Sciences, Business Administration, Criminal Justice, Education, and Humanities and Social Sciences • Fall 2007 Total Enrollment of approximately 16,416 of whom 28% are minorities, and 1% are International students • Average class size is 31 students and the Faculty: Student ratio is 1:20 • SAT Admissions standards are above the national average • In Fall 2007, 1755 new transfers enter SHSU, compared to an 2213 New Freshmen. TAIR 2008 Conference, 2/6/08
WHY DO WE STUDY TRANSFER STUDENTS? • To determine if we are providing the best environment & experiences to promote their success and to improve these for better outcomes • i.e., • Enrollment Mgmt • Enrichment and Support Programs; • Student Services • Academic Depts with Articulation Agreements • To satisfy external accountability requirements TAIR 2008 Conference, 2/6/08 TX Association of Institutional Research (TAIR) 2008 Conference, 2/5-7/08
HOW DO WE STUDY TRANSFER STUDENTS? • Examine outcomes such as retention, graduation rates and final GPAs by.. • Comparing outcomes among subgroups within the transfer population. I.e., • Gender, • Ethnicity • Type of transfer • Entry cohort • # of SCHs transferred at entry, etc. • Comparing them against pre-existing “idealized,” external, ‘or internal benchmarks • Comparing transfer student outcomes to native student outcomes. TAIR 2008 Conference, 2/6/08 TX Association of Institutional Research (TAIR) 2008 Conference, 2/5-7/08
EXAMPLE: • Comparison with pre-existing benchmarks • external, or internal benchmarks • New Transfer Cohort 2001 • Idealized benchmarks: • Graduation within three years if entering with 30 or more credits • 54%of Transfers with >29 credits graduate in three years • Graduation within four years if entering with <30 credits • 40% of Transfers with <30 credits graduate in four years • External benchmarks: • State benchmark for Fall 2005 Cohort = 44% • Internal benchmarks TAIR 2008 Conference, 2/6/08
EXAMPLE: Comparing Transfers to New Freshman Natives Who Entered in Same Year • Comparison of Graduation Rates up to S2007 by ethnicity for.. • Students who entered SHSU as New Freshmen (NFN) • University Transfers (UT) • Community College Transfers (CCT) 66.67% 58.33% 43.18% 39.04% 32.83% 25% TAIR 2008 Conference, 2/6/08
EXAMPLE: Comparing Transfers to New Freshman Natives Who Entered in Same Year on Graduation GPA • Comparison of GPA up to S2007 by ethnicity for.. • Students who entered SHSU as New Freshmen (NFN) • University Transfers (UT) • Community College Transfers (CCT) 3.28 3.15 3.21 2.90 3.03 2.81 TAIR 2008 Conference, 2/6/08
ALTERNATE APPROACH: Comparing New Transfers to Credit-Comparable Natives Graduation Rates of F2001University Transfers (UT) and Community College Transfers (CCT) with credits between 12-30; 31-45; 46-60; and >60 VS. Native Students with Comparable Credits in F2001 (CCN) 65.11% 60.59% 54.12% 47.35% Note: CCN’s are Students who are previously enrolled as Native Freshmen. TAIR 2008 Conference, 2/6/08
Comparing Results Using Native New Freshmen (NFN) vs. Credit-Comparable Natives as Cohorts (CCN) By Ethnicity, On Graduation Rates 66.67% 58.33% 39.04% 43.18% 57.53% 51.68% 49.69% 32.83% 46.84% 25% 42.50% 39.39% TAIR 2008 Conference, 2/6/08
Comparing Results Using Native New Freshmen (NNF) vs. Credit-Comparable Natives as Cohorts (CCN) By Ethnicity, On Graduation GPA 3.28 3.04 3.21 3.15 3.03 2.89 2.98 2.94 2.84 2.90 2.70 2.81 TAIR 2008 Conference, 2/6/08
Comparing Results Using Native New Freshmen (NFN) vs. Credit-Comparable Natives (CCN) as Cohorts By Gender, On Graduation GPA 3.05 2.98 2.86 2.76 TAIR 2008 Conference, 2/6/08 TX Association of Institutional Research (TAIR) 2008 Conference, 2/5-7/08
WHO ARE SHSU’S TRANSFER STUDENTS? TAIR 2008 Conference, 2/6/08 TX Association of Institutional Research (TAIR) 2008 Conference, 2/5-7/08
How Different Are the NFN and CCN Comparison Populations? TAIR 2008 Conference, 2/6/08
How Different Are the NFN and CCN Comparison Populations? Cohort Fall 2001 (NFN/CCN/Difference) Graduation Rates by Gender up to S2007 Cohort Fall 2001 (NFN/CCN/Difference) Graduation Rates by Gender up to S2007 TAIR 2008 Conference, 2/6/08
How Different Are the NFN and CCN Comparison Populations? Cohort Fall 2001 (NFN/CCN/Difference) Graduation GPA by Gender up to S2007 Cohort Fall 2001 (NFN/CCN/Difference) GPA by Gender up to S2007 TAIR 2008 Conference, 2/6/08
Conclusion • One justification for comparing New Transfers to Credit-Comparable Natives, rather than Freshman New Natives is that this improves the authenticity of the comparison based on greater underlying similarities between these groups • However, in this case, the CCNs were NOT much more similar to the New Transfer s except in its representation of older students • With regard to graduation rate outcomes of New Transfers compared to Credit Comparable Natives, the CCN population did provide a closer comparison than New Freshman Natives. TAIR 2008 Conference, 2/6/08
Conclusion • HOWEVER, regarding GPA outcomes… • The CCN population was found to have lower GPAs than the NFNs overall, with statistical significance between genders • There was also statistically significant difference between CNN and NFN population GPAs among Asian, Black and White students . • Among both males and females , the GPAs of CCNs are less comparable to New Transfers • Among Whites, the GPAs of the CCNs were less comparable to New Transfers • Among Asians, the GPAs of CCNs were more comparable to University Transfer Students • Among Blacks, GPAs of CCNs were more comparable to Community College Transfers. TAIR 2008 Conference, 2/6/08