Transfer Student Success: Exploring Community College, University, and Individual Predictors

• Published in: Community college journal of research and practice Vol. 43; no. 9; pp. 599 - 617
• Main Authors: Umbach, Paul D., Tuchmayer, Jeremy B., Clayton, Ashley B., Smith, Kathleen N.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington Routledge 02-09-2019; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Academic achievement; Academic Degrees; Academic Persistence; Associate Degrees; Black Colleges; College Credits; College Readiness; College Transfer Students; Colleges; Colleges & universities; Community Colleges; Correlation; Gender Differences; Grade Point Average; Grades (Scholastic); Graduation; Historically Black Colleges & Universities; Institutional Characteristics; Organizational aspects; Outcomes of Education; Racial Differences; School Size; Selective Admission; Selectivity; Student Adjustment; Student Characteristics; Students; Success; Transfer Students; Transfers; North Carolina
• ISSN: 1066-8926; 1521-0413
• DOI: 10.1080/10668926.2018.1520658

This paper investigates community college transfer success by exploring the relationship between individual and institutional-level characteristics at students' two- and four-year institutions. Using statewide administrative data from North Carolina, this study employs a cross-classified multilevel model to investigate the impact that a student's community college and four-year transfer institution have on post-transfer success. Our findings offer important and compelling insights into the relationship between transfer students, the community college they attended, the four-year transfer institution, and educational outcomes. While individual effects were small, we find several institutional factors associated with student success. Attendance at a large community college or having a public university in the same county as their community college is positively associated with student success, whereas size of the university is negatively related to grades during the first year and persistence to the second year. While the four-year institution's selectivity is negatively related to many of our outcomes, transferring to a Historically Black College or University is positively associated with GPA, college persistence, and degree completion.