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

Abstract

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.

Factors Contributing to the Upward Transfer of Baccalaureate Aspirants Beginning at Community Colleges

“…However, motivational beliefs that underlie individual behaviors may become especially relevant when studying baccalaureate aspirants beginning at community colleges. For this group of students, the road to the bachelor's degree is more complicated and entails more barriers as students negotiate a series of transitioning in postsecondary education (Wang, 2009). …”

The role of community college-based transfer programming in transfer student success.

“…Given that community college students are more likely to attend school part time, work, and have other outside commitments (Choy, 2002;Duggan & Pickering, 2008;Wang, 2009), participation in the Ultra program, which is in part designed to help them make the best use of their educational time (mainly by ensuring the classes they take are the most beneficial in terms of transferability), could in the long run of their educational career save them a substantial amount of time. Saving students time, which also saves them money, may help lead to higher persistence (Townsend, 2008; U.S. Department of Education, 2006).…”

“…Background variables most commonly used to study student persistence and success are gender, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status (SES) (Wang, 2009) and as such, they were utilized in this study. Pell Grant eligibility based on a student's estimated family contribution (EFC) was used as the proxy for SES (Lips, 2011;Mahan, 2011).…”

“…In higher education today, community college transfer students are an important resource for four-year institutions (Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education [KY CPE], 2010, "Transfer"). Therefore, in these times of increased pressures on accountability, leaders at four-year institutions should facilitate the successful transfer to and retention of students at their schools in order to increase completion rates (Wang, 2009).…”

“…According to Wang (2009), the evident drawbacks associated with beginning at a community college represent "an obligation among higher education researchers to look within the community college transfer student group in identifying factors that affect these students' educational attainment" (p. 571). One of these factors that helps students be successful during and after transfer is taking the appropriate preparatory coursework-work that will be accepted by the receiving institution-and work that matches the students' academic abilities and needs.…”