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“If you want to transfer and get your bachelor’s, you have to make a plan. You have to make sure you’re getting your courses in sequence so you’re not in school forever and you’re not in huge amounts of debt.” – Community College Advisor
One of the great benefits of attending a community college is the low-cost accrual of college credit that can be applied to a bachelor’s degree upon transfer to a four-year college or university. Obtaining an associate degree helps students climb higher on the economic mobility ladder than they would be able to with only a high school degree, and a bachelor’s degree enables them to climb much higher.
Most community college students intend to transfer. Sixty-seven percent of 2024 Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) respondents across 164 institutions indicated that they were planning to transfer to a four-year college or university. Yet a 2024 report by Community College Research Center, the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program, and National Student Clearinghouse Research Center found that only about a third of 2015 community college entrants transferred and fewer than half of those who transferred earned a degree in six years.
Another unsettling finding is that, while 2024 CCSSE respondents who are Pell Grant recipients reported intent to transfer at roughly the same rates as non-Pell Grant recipients, the Tracking Transfer report shows that only 11% of low-income students who started at a community college earned a bachelor’s degree in six years. Therefore, the students who stand to gain the most from transferring are the least likely to do so.
What causes the disconnect between intention and reality?
Proponents of the guided pathways movement suggest that transfer and career exploration should happen early in students’ educational journeys so that they can make informed decisions about their course of study and not waste time and money taking courses that won’t count toward a degree. CCSSE is administered in the spring term to mostly returning students, so one might suppose that conversations about transfer had already taken place for students taking the survey.
Yet, when asked specifically if anyone had talked with them about the application process for transferring, 68% of students reported that this had not happened. Part-time students and nontraditional-age students were even less likely to report that someone had talked with them about how to transfer. Additionally, only 37% of students planning to transfer said someone had talked with them about which of their credits would transfer to the university of their choice. Many community colleges provide transfer information to their students through their websites, and while over a third of surveyed students found the information on their college website very useful, one in five students were not aware that such information existed.
The 2024 survey also asked students about their intentions regarding transfer. Of the students surveyed who indicated intent to transfer, almost half (47%) reported that they knew where they wanted to transfer and what they wanted to study. Seven percent were unsure of what they wanted to study upon transfer, and almost a third didn’t know what university they wanted to attend. Finally, 15% didn’t know what they wanted to study or where they wanted to transfer. Perhaps if these students had spoken with someone about how to transfer and which of their credits would transfer, or if more of them had been pointed to the college website for information about transfer, they would have clearer ideas about their future plans.
While it is somewhat heartening that almost half of surveyed students reported knowing where they wanted to transfer and what they wanted to study, we don’t know if their plans are realistic. We don’t know if they are aware that all their credits might not transfer. We don’t know if they are aware of the transfer requirements at their university of choice or if they know that meeting transfer requirements doesn’t necessarily guarantee admission. By speaking with students early and often, we may be able to manage their expectations and provide them with crucial information that will begin to close the gap between those who intend to transfer and those who actually do.
When students have clarity around their academic goals and how to achieve them, they are comforted. One focus group participant said the following of her experience with transfer supports: “My advisor has told me that specific colleges around this area accept a lot of the credits here. I also used a website called Transferology to look and see if my credits will transfer. There is one college about an hour away from here that’s a 99% match. That’s one of the colleges that my advisor has given me an e-mail to someone that I can talk to about transferring. It is a very comforting feeling that my classes will transfer. That way, I know I’m not wasting any time, I’m not wasting money, and I know that, once I transfer, I won’t have to retake classes.”
Dr. Courtney Adkins serves as associate director of publications at Community College Survey of Student Engagement.
Dr. Linda L. Garcia serves as executive director at Community College Survey of Student Engagement.
The Roueche Center Forum is co-edited by Dr. John E. Roueche and Dr. Margaretta B. Mathis of the John E. Roueche Center for Community College Leadership, Department of Educational Leadership, College of Education, Kansas State University.