The New Reverse Transfer: A National Landscape

Abstract

For decades, higher education professionals and researchers have used the term reverse transfer to describe a specific group of students. A current review of community college literature and higher education policy reflects a contextual change of the term, and today reverse transfer has grown to include students who transfer from a two-year college to a four-year institution and retroactively receive an associate's degree with their newly earned university credits. The purpose of this study was to provide an overview of the new reverse transfer and the current status of reverse transfer participation and implementation procedure within each of the 50 states. This study also provides a review of the best practices for implementing the new reverse transfer. Results were obtained through an extensive literature review and a qualitative study that used document analysis. Findings show that 18 states had no participation, 11 states had emerging participation, and 21 states had strong participation in implementing state-wide reverse transfer programming. Recommendations for implementation were identified through a second document analysis. Recommendations include ensuring that institutions form multiinstitution/department taskforce committees, automating the degree evaluation process and credentialing, and identifying the process for sharing student information across institutions. Future research should include tracking new reverse transfer participants over time to determine if such programs are improving completion rates.For decades, higher education professionals and researchers have used the term reverse transfer to describe a specific group of students. Historically, reverse transfer has referred to students who transferred to a community college from a four-year college before completing a degree at a fouryear college or university. Today, reverse transfer has evolved to include students who transfer from a two-year college to a four-year institution and then retroactively receive an associate's degree with their newly earned university credits. This new pattern has emerged as community colleges seek ways to support the large number of students that leave and enroll at four-year colleges before completing their associate degrees. In order to improve the degree completion rates of such transfer students, community colleges are partnering with universities to create formal reverse transfer programs.With the evolving application of the term and programs to support reverse transfer, questions have emerged regarding its best practice, implications for institutions, and outcome potential for students. This paper will build on current literature regarding what is known about reverse transfer programs. An extensive literature review focuses on relevant terms and concepts of reverse transfer and current college completion initiatives.

No Longer Junior Colleges: Integrating Institutional Diversity in Graduate Higher Education Programs

“…However, transfer pathways between two and fouryear institutions are complicated: only 24% of community college students who indicated a desire to transfer actually enroll in a four-year institution six years later (National Center for Education Statistics, 2011). In addition, research has found patterns of lateral transfers (Bahr, 2009), reverse transfers (Friedel & Wilson, 2015;Winter & Harris, 1999), and co-enrollment (Wang & Wickersham, 2014) between two and four-year institutions creating a student swirl among community colleges and universities. Given this complexity, some researchers have called for call for alternative classifications of higher education institutions not just by the type of credentials awarded but through a more multifaceted approach related to program and student characteristics (Skolnik, 2011).…”

Characteristics and enrollment factors of post-degree students at a large, public, community college in the Midwest

“…Although this type of reverse transfer will not be the focus of this study, it is important to include all versions of reverse transfer. New reverse transfer emerged around 2006, partially in response to the college completion agenda, and can be defined as "the transferring of credit from a four-year college back to a two-year college to retroactively earn an associate's degree" (Friedel & Wilson, 2015). The new reverse transfer students transfer from a two-year institution to a four-year school prior to completing an associate's degree, and then transfer credits from the baccalaureate institution back to the two-year college to be applied toward the completion of an associate's degree.…”

“…Agreements for new reverse transfer policies and practices among two-year and four-year institutions have been implemented on both institutional and statewide levels as a way to increase completion rates at community colleges. The concept of reverse transfer in this scenario refers to the transfer of the credit not the individual (Friedel & Wilson, 2015).…”

Reverse transfer credit: A case study of the perceived influence on degree recipients

“…The reverse transfer credit agreement has been increasingly looked at as one opportunity to increase degree completion numbers. The new reverse transfer is defined as students who transfer from a two-year college to a four-year institution and retroactively receive an associate's degree with their newly earned four-year college credits (Friedel & Wilson, 2015). As the implementation of the new reverse transfer program has been revamped in higher education institutions across the U.S., many students have participated and received their associate's degree through this program.…”

“…This research could contribute to the literature by providing additional insight into the influence students perceive they have received by obtaining a degree through the new reverse transfer program. New reverse transfer students are defined as those who transfer from a two-year college to a four-year institution and retroactively receive an associate's degree with their newly earned four-year college credits (Friedel & Wilson, 2015). This qualitative study focused on new reverse transfer completers who attended Iowa State University (ISU) within the last five years (2012-2016) who then left ISU without completing their bachelor's year degree.…”