Through the Gate: Mapping the Transfer Landscape and Understanding What Students Say Builds Their Capacity for Transfer

ABSTRACT

Educational practitioners, researchers, and policymakers have focused on increasing community college transfer rates as an equity strategy for improving social and economic mobility among historically underserved populations. While there is a vast amount of research on students who have successfully transferred, there is limited evidence base on the experience of community college students who are on the verge of this transition. This study employed a mixed-methods design to map California’s transfer landscape and understand what factors facilitate or hinder students’ capacity to transfer to a university successfully. Findings reveal a missed opportunity: between 2010 and 2015, over one-third (N = 292,556) of California community college students did not make it “through the gate” to a university within six years – even though they had met most or all of their transfer requirements. Subsequent student surveys and interviews revealed four critical factors for building students’ transfer capacity and helping them reach their goals of a baccalaureate degree and economic and social mobility for themselves and their families: university affordability, school-life balance, pathway navigation, and support network. This article discusses implications and future research considerations for leveraging these findings to support equity and transfer success efforts.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. This study was exempt under 45 CFR 46.104(d)(1). The study utilized data collection methods that are typical at the educational institutions study participants are from.

2. Behavioral intent to transfer was defined as completing at least 12 transferable course units within a six-year timeframe upon initial community college enrollment. Out of the 3,366,722 students enrolled during this time, 58% of those students showed behavioral intent to transfer. Gender and race/ethnicity characteristics represent the overall student population, with a slight overrepresentation of White and Asian students and an underrepresentation of Hispanic students.

3. The welcome page of the survey was an informed consent form with the study details, and students had the option to click “Yes” to consent to participating in the study before they could complete the survey. If a student did not consent to participating, they had the option of clicking out of the survey or clicking “No.” Clicking “No” navigated students to the end of the survey, which thanked them for their consideration in participating.

4. Key themes from the interviews are noted throughout the results section. Additionally, see Appendix A for a table indicated the frequency with which each parent and child code was referenced in the interviews.

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the College Futures Foundation.