The College Transfer Student in America: The Forgotten Student

The College Transfer Student in America: The Forgotten Student Bonita C. Jacobs, Ph.D. President North Georgia College & State University September 13, 2011

Defining Transfer • “Traditional” • 2-Year to 4-Year public • 2-year to 4-year private • Other Patterns • 4-4 • 4-2 • 2-4-4 • 2-2-4 • Transfer Swirl

Myths About Transfer Students • All transfers go to community colleges for two years and finish the last two years at a four-year school • Forget transfer orientation! They won’t come

Myths About Transfer Students • Transfer students do not want to be involved on campus • Parents of transfer students are not interested in being involved with the campus

Myths About Transfer Students • Transfer students do not live in residence halls • Transfer students are inferior students

Myths About Transfer Students • Retention strategies are not needed for transfer students • Transfer students do not connect with the university • Transfer students will not donate to the University following graduation

Myths About Transfer Students Transfer students go to a two-year school from high school only because: • they are less mature • they don’t have the money for a four-year school • they don’t have the grades to get into a four-year school

Myths About Transfer Students Transfer students who go to a two-year school from high school do not have goals or aspirations

Myths About Transfer Students • The majority of transfer students are non-traditional in age • International students do not transfer

Bottom Line: Transfer Students Are Diverse Within Themselves

What We Know About Transfer • Nearly 60% of all students who graduate from a four-year institution entered college at a different institution (NECS, 2007)

What We Know About Transfer • 11% were at some point co-enrolled in more than one college (NECS, 2002)

Transfer Students: Ethnically Diverse Racial and ethnic minorities account for about 48% of the community college population(Phillippe & Patton for AACC, 1999) “At the national level, community college students represent higher percentages of underrepresented, non-traditional, low-income, and lower performing students” (Falconetti & Jones, 2009)

Transfer Students: Ethnically Diverse Among all undergraduates: 57% of Native Americans are in community colleges 47% of Asian/Pacific Islanders are in community colleges 47% of Blacks are in community colleges 55% of Hispanics are in community colleges (NCES, 2007)

Transfer & Graduation Rate Transfers are less likely to graduate in four years • 51 months - single institution average • 59 months - two-institutions average • 67 months - three or more institutions average But just as likely to complete a degree program (NCES, 2007)

Student Engagement • NSSE and other research suggest that transfer students are less involved in clubs, service, research with faculty, etc. • Intrinsic to student factors, such as more need to work, older and have families, etc.? • But, we must be careful to not generalize transfer students.

Do we exert same amount of energy on transfer success initiatives as on freshman success initiatives?

A decade past: The Policy Center on the First Year of College found that: Only 1/3 of institutions offer special services for transfer students … (Swing, R. L. 2000)

… Those institutions that did not offer special services explained that: • Their transfer population was too small • Traditional programs care for transfer needs (Swing, R. L. 2000)

Swing, R. L. (2000) … Further, Swing found that • Of those who do offer special services they are usually limited to: • Transcript evaluation • Transfer-specific orientation • Institutions assume that transfer students are “experienced” and do not need other services Those days are gone…

Transfer Issues: State Practices Much variance from state to state …but all weighing in!

Transfer issues: Articulation agreements • Depending on the campus, can be quite diverse • Institutional • Departmental • Those who implement the agreements should be involved in the formulation of the details • Including faculty is vital • “Transfer” vs. applicability to a particular degree plan

Transfer Issues: Orientation • Transfers are diverse! Thus, orientation must be diverse • What about parents? Can they affect the NSSE data on transfer engagement? • What about engagement? • Involvement from the top

Transfer Issues: Advising • Developmental as well as prescriptive – including clarification of goals and discussions regarding choices • Knowledge of articulation agreements, common course numbering, computer transfer systems is imperative!

The 3 Stages of Transfer Stage One: What They Expect Before Transfer • 60% expect to feel marginalized & worry about navigating the system • 92% struggle with their need for guidance • 93% are concerned with fitting into the university culture • “I am sure I’ll be lost” eSource, Karen Owens, February 2009

The 3 Stages of Transfer Stage Two: Student Perception at Mid-Semester • 95% express a need for more “personal attention” • 88% seek more “academic integration” • 51% desire “more social interaction” • 86% of students identified poor communication in and between institutions as a significant issue

The 3 Stages of Transfer Stage Three: Recommendations for Success • 49% recommend transfer advisors • “someone to call their own” • 49% recommend a transfer-specific orientation • 27% ask for a step-by-step transfer checklist

A Perfect Storm • Voluntary System of Accountability and the College Portrait • http://www.voluntarysystem.org/index.cfm • Legislative Pressures (Federal and State) • Statewide Agreements & Common Course Guidelines • Returning Veterans

IPKITeducation.missouri.edu/orgs/ipkit/index • Institutional Audit of Policies, Practices, and Attitudes Affecting Transfer Students • Version 1: For Community Colleges • Version 2: For Baccalaureate Degree Institutions • Conducting Focus Groups about Transfer • Constructing Surveys about Transfer • Coding Open-Ended Responses to Survey Questions • Data Sources for Information about Transfer and Degree Attainment

Foewww.jngi.org • John N. Gardner Institute for Excellence in Undergraduate Education • Foundations of Excellence for Transfer • 2-Year and 4-Year Versions

We know that there are: • Students Who Do Not Plan for Transfer • Course Applicability Limitations • Reverse and Swirling Transfer Issues • Financial Aid Issues • 2-year and 4-year Communication Issues

Only 33.5% of students intending to transfer report that they received their transfer information from their college counselor or advisor • 36.4% of students feel they do not have enough information to transfer successfully Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education

Institutional Research • What data do you have on transfer students? • What data should you have? • The amount of information available about first-time students is far more complete than information about transfer students

Assessment! • Of articulation agreements • Of success rates from Campus A to Campus B • Of transfer orientation • Of transfer advisement • Of transfer student engagement • Of transfer student expectations • Of transfer student satisfaction

National Institute for the Study of Transfer Students Texas Transfer Success Conference • May 22, 2009 10th Annual Conference • January 25-27, 2012, Fort Worth, Texas • http://transferinstitute.unt.edu

The College Transfer Student in America: The Forgotten Student