The Success Of Community College Transfer Students As Compared To Native Four Year Students At A Major Research University PDF Download

The purpose of the study was to compare the academic success of transfer students and native students enrolled in a private urban university. The relationship between community college students and their performance at four year institutions has been researched by numerous researchers (Carlan & Byxbe, 2000; Cejda, 1994; Cohen, 1998; Hill, 1965; Graham & Hughes, 1994; Montondon & Elkner, 1997). Banks (1990) has written that the founders of junior colleges believed the success of their transfer mission could be gauged by the success of their students at the four-year institution. Current research was highly focused on transfer students as they moved from community colleges to public four-year institutions. Inadequate research was available to assist independent colleges and universities in working with transfer students. Sixteen hundred independent colleges and universities have enrolled more than 3.1 million students, a critical number of students needing focused and specialized research on transfer (National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, 2005). This causal comparative study examined a cohort of students who transferred into a private four-year institution. The study was comprised of native and transfer students who entered a private urban university, Fall, 1999, and examined their academic success outcomes six years later (May, 2005). The purpose of this study was to understand and describe the extent to which native and transfer students differ in their academic success in a private urban university. The study found no statistically significant differences in the academic success (grade point average, retention rate, graduation rate) of transfer and native students based on transfer status, classification, age, gender or transfer institution type. No statistically significant differences were found in the grade point averages and retention rates of transfer and native students based on enrollment status. However, full-time transfer and native students had a statistically higher graduation rate than part-time students. Implications for future practice and recommendations for further research are provided by the study. -- Abstract.