By Dr. George R. Boggs, President & CEO Emeritus American Association of Community Colleges & Superintendent/President Emeritus, Palomar College.
The newly released “Transfer and Progress” report from the National Student Clearinghouse provided some good news about one of the most fundamental missions of the community college: the transfer function (2024). In a sign that the colleges are recovering from the negative effects of the pandemic, the number of students who transferred from community colleges to four-year institutions in the fall of 2023 grew by 7.7 percent from a year earlier. The surge was particularly remarkable for historically marginalized groups, including low-income students, Black and Hispanic students, and rural students (Weissman, 2024).
However, recent dual reports from the Community College Research Center (CCRC), the Aspen Institute, and the Research Center at the National Student Clearinghouse present a more critical view of transfer outcomes. The 2024 reports are the most recent in a series of transfer tracking reports that began in 2016. One 2024 report focuses on community college effectiveness in broadening bachelor’s degree attainment (Velasco, et al., 2024a), while the other focuses on four-year institutional effectiveness in the transfer process (Velasco, et al., 2024b).
Students choose to begin their higher education at community colleges for a variety of reasons. Many are from families facing financial need or are dealing with other life circumstances that make a local, affordable, open-access institution the best—or perhaps the only—option. The students who attend community colleges are generally happy with their choice. A 2021 national student satisfaction and priorities study reported that students enrolled at community colleges were more satisfied with their experiences than students attending public or private four-year institutions (RNL, 2021).
For many students, community colleges are the first stop on their way to a baccalaureate, which usually means leaving one institution and transferring to another with a different culture. While the reports from CCRC indicate poor persistence to the baccalaureate from community college transfers, other studies show that community college transfers do at least as well as entering freshmen and better than transfers from other four-year institutions. The California State University reported a 4-year graduation rate of 72.9 percent for community college transfers (CSU, 2016, p.19) versus a 6-year graduation rate of 57.0% for entering freshmen (CSU, 2016, p. 7). The University of California reported similar graduation rates (nearly 90 percent) for transfer students after four years and entering freshmen after six years (UC, 2023).
A report on undergraduate students between 2010 and 2016 from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation found that community college transfer students have equal to higher graduation rates than students enrolling in universities directly from high school or transferring from other four-year institutions. This trend holds across all four-year institution selectivity categories. Even with a period of adjustment called “transfer shock,” community college students who transfer are generally successful (Glynn, n.d.).
The challenge is that transfer pathways are often filled with barriers that many students, especially students of color, low-income students, and adult students, are often not able to navigate. While about 35% of California community college students are enrolled in Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs (Bohn, s., Gao, N., & McConville, S., 2018), many of which lead to careers not requiring a baccalaureate, the US Department of Education reports that 80 percent of community college students say they intend to transfer and complete a baccalaureate. However, in California, only 17 percent of community college students earn a bachelor’s degree within six years, and only 53 percent of those who transfer earn a bachelor’s degree six years after beginning in a community college. Because many community college students need to attend on a part-time basis, they can take more than six years to reach their goal. In California, an additional 17.2 percent are still enrolled in a community college or university after six years.
A November 2023 report from the Campaign for College Opportunity noted that too few transfer-intending community college students ever transfer to a four-year institution, and barriers in the transfer process disproportionately thwart students from marginalized groups (Fink, J. et al., 2023). The barriers for marginalized students create significant higher education equity issues. Community College enrollments nationally represent 39 percent of all Black undergraduates, 48 percent of all Latinx undergraduates, 52 percent of all American Indian/Alaskan Native undergraduates, and 34 percent of all Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander undergraduates. The community college transfer pathway holds enormous promise for closing equity gaps by race and income status in baccalaureate attainment (Fink, J. et al., 2023).
The recent reports on transfer provide important insights that can guide policymakers and educational leaders at community colleges and four-year institutions. Noteworthy findings include:
Rates of bachelor’s completion among community college students were lower on average for low-income, male, older, Black, and Hispanic students (Velasco, T., 2024a). Students from the top family income quartile are five times more likely than individuals from the bottom income quartile to obtain a baccalaureate by age 24 (Glynn, J., n.d.).
Community colleges and four-year institutions should increase student support programs to improve transfer student success rates and close achievement gaps. Classes and services should be scheduled so students can access them. Community colleges enroll a large percentage of first-generation, economically disadvantaged, and returning adult students who struggle with finances, childcare, and employment responsibilities (Schwartz, N. 2024). In addition, two-thirds of community colleges report experiencing at least one basic needs insecurity. Twenty-four percent reported being homeless, 58 percent are housing insecure, and 47 percent are food insecure (CCLC, 2023). Colleges and universities can partner with community service agencies to provide students with needed support. Financial aid can mean the difference between staying in college and dropping out.
Transfer outcomes of prior high school dual-enrolled students were stronger than those of students who start college without having taken any dual enrollment courses (Velasco, T., 2024a).
Students who experience college-level classes while still in high school are more likely to continue with and complete college. Community college and high school leaders should take advantage of legislation authored by Holden in 2015 that authorizes the governing board of community college districts to enter into a College and Career Access Pathways partnership with the governing boards of school districts (Holden, C., 2015). Colleges and school districts should work to ensure that dual-enrollment classes are gender- and race-inclusive.
Community college students who were able to transfer most of their credits were 2.5 times more likely to attain a bachelor’s degree compared to peers who transferred fewer than half of their credits (Fink, J., et al., 2023).
Community college students should be given the necessary information and guidance to follow an educational plan that prepares them for transfer. Guided Pathways is an approach that can be helpful to students (California Community Colleges, N.d.). System-wide articulation agreements can help students take the correct classes that are accepted and applied to bachelor’s degree programs (Matt B, 2022).
Transfer students who earn a pre-transfer community college award have much higher post-transfer outcomes (Velasco, T., 2024a). However, most community college transfer students do not earn an associate degree before enrolling in a four-year institution.
Community college students should be informed about the importance of getting an associate degree before transferring. In California, the Associate Degree for Transfer (ADT) pathways are available at all 115 degree-granting community colleges. More than half of the ADT students who transferred to a California State University campus graduated with their bachelor’s degree in two years (Campaign for College Opportunity, 2021).
Community college transfer students who graduate are less likely to earn a baccalaureate in a STEM field than graduates who are not transfer students (Velasco, T., 2024a).
In addition to projected national STEM labor shortages, there are significant racial and gender disparities in the STEM workforce. African Americans make up 11% of the US workforce, but only 7% of all STEM workers. Hispanics are 17% of the workforce but only 7% of all STEM workers. Sixty-nine percent of all STEM workers are White. Women are underrepresented in several STEM occupations, particularly in computer jobs and engineering. The racial and gender inequalities have significant income implications. Even among workers with similar education, STEM workers earn significantly more (Funk & Parker, 2018). Colleges and universities should develop or strengthen programs that create more diverse and inclusive enrollment in STEM programs.
Community college transfers are a major source of enrollment and student diversity at four-year institutions (Velasco, T., 2024b).
Four-year institutions are more open than ever to accepting community college transfers as ways to increase enrollment and diversify their student bodies. However, in addition to the hurdles that community college students face in navigating how to transfer, they often face additional obstacles after transferring as they face challenges from unreceptive university cultures. Community college students are less mobile than recent high school graduates and may need to attend four-year institutions closer to home. After transferring, students report less academic and social interaction at the four-year institution—including less interaction with faculty, as well as feeling lower levels of belonging—compared to students who entered as freshmen (Fink, J., et al., 2023).
Leaders of four-year institutions should examine policies and practices that were established to serve entering freshmen to see how well they serve transfer students. Transfer students should be welcomed and oriented with the same care given to entering freshmen. Classes and services should be scheduled so that students who work or care for families can continue to progress toward their educational goals. Phi Theta Kappa, the international honor society for community college students, has established a Transfer Honor Roll—accessible to community college students–for four-year institutions that recognize the needs of and properly support transfer students (PTK, n.d.).
The transfer mission of community colleges is more important than ever. More careers require increased levels of education, and community colleges offer the most accessible and affordable pathway to education beyond high school, including certificates, associate degrees, baccalaureates, and advanced degrees. Community colleges also present the opportunity to close achievement gaps for marginalized populations. We call on policymakers and our colleague educators at community colleges and four-year institutions to remove the obstacles that stand in the way for students.
References
Bohn, S., Gao, N., & McConville, S. (2018). “Career Technical Education in California.” Public Policy Institute of California.
California Community Colleges (n.d.). “Guided Pathways.”
Campaign for College Opportunity (2021). “Chutes or Ladders? Strengthening California Community College Transfer So More Students Earn the Degree They Seek.”
CCLC (2023). “Real College California. Basic Needs Among California Community College Students.” Community College League of California.
CSU (2016). “Undergraduate Outcomes Report.” The California State University.
Fink, J. et al. (2023). “Advancing Equity with Effective Community College Transfer Pathways.” Campaign for College Opportunity.
Funk, C. & Parker, K. (2018). “Diversity in the STEM workforce varies widely across jobs” Pew Research Center.
Glynn, J. (n.d.). “Persistence: The Success of Students who Transfer from Community Colleges to Selective Four-Year Institutions.” Jack Kent Cooke Foundation.
Holden, C (2015). “Assembly Bill 288, Chapter 618.” California Legislative Information.
Matt B (2022). “Community College Transfer Students Articulation Agreement.” California Transfer Support Network
National Student Clearinghouse (2024). “Transfer and Progress Fall 2023 Report.”
PTK (n.d.) “Transfer Honor Roll.” Phi Theta Kappa
RNL (2021). “2021 National Student Satisfaction and Priorities Report.” Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Ruffalo Noel Levitz.
Schwartz, N. (2024). “Almost half of stopped-out community colleges students cite work as major reason for leaving.” HigherEd Dive.
Sotherland, S.; Strange, K.; Matsudaira, J. (2023). “New Measures of Postsecondary Education Transfer Performance: Transfer-out rates for community colleges, transfer student graduation rates at four-year colleges, and the institutional dyads contributing to transfer student success” Homeroom. US Department of Education.
UC (2023). “Accountability Report.” The University of California.
Velasco, T. et al. (2024a). “Tracking Transfer: Community College Effectiveness in Broadening Bachelor’s Degree Attainment.” Community College Research Center, The Aspen Institute College Excellence Program, National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.
Velasco, T. et al. (2024b). “Tracking Transfer: Four-Year Institutional Effectiveness in Broadening Bachelor’s Degree Attainment.” Community College Research Center, The Aspen Institute College Excellence Program, National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.
Weissman, S. (2024). “Transfers on the Rise.” Inside Higher Ed.
Author
Dr. George R. Boggs
President & CEO Emeritus American Association of Community Colleges
& Superintendent/President Emeritus, Palomar College
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