Impact of Alternative Definitions of Community College Transfer Rates

Impact of Alternative Definitions of Community College Transfer Rates

EDINFO No. 2003-02
February 2003
ERIC Clearinghouse for Community Colleges

In July 2001 the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) published a Research and Development Report which examined the impact of alternative definitions of community college transfer rates. The study used nationally representative student data from the NCES 1990 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study and looked at several ways of defining the population of potential transfer students, the relationship of those definitions to student demographics, and the impact of each definition on the resulting transfer rate. Highlighted here are key findings in each of the three areas.

Alternative Definitions of Potential Transfer Students:

Least restrictive definition: students who expected to complete a bachelor’s degree or higher (71 percent of beginning community college students).
Moderately restrictive definition: students enrolled for 12 or more credit hours (36 percent of beginning community college students).
Most restrictive definition:students pursuing an academic major and taking courses towards a bachelor’s degree (11 percent of beginning community college students).

Relationship of Alternative Definitions to Student Characteristics:

The proportion of students from the highest socioeconomic status group increased substantially across increasingly restrictive definitions of potential transfer students.
Students 22 years or older were less likely to meet the restrictive definitions of transfer.
No African American students in this sample met the most restrictive definition.

Impact of Alternative Definitions to Transfer Rate:

Transfer rates increased substantially using the more restrictive definitions.
Many students who transferred did not meet the more restrictive definitions; the most restrictive definition excluded four-fifths of students who actually transferred.
In order to obtain the most accurate and applicable transfer rates, future studies must define the group of potential transfer students broadly enough so that it reflects community college students in general, but excludes students who do not plan to transfer.

This information was reported in ED454301, "Community College Transfer Rates to 4-Year Institutions Using Alternative Definitions of Transfer" by Ellen Bradburn, David Hurst, and Samuel Peng. A full-text copy of this document may be obtained by contacting ERIC Document Reproduction Services (EDRS), 7420 Fullerton Road, Suite 110, Springfield, VA 22153-2852; or by calling (800) 443-ERIC. This project has been funded at least in part with Federal funds from the U.S. Department of Education under contract number ED-99-CO-0010. The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. Department of Education nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. ERIC EdInfos are in the public domain and may be freely reproduced.

To receive free paper copies of ERIC EdInfos, send an email message to the Clearinghouse at ericcc@ucla.edu, call us at (800) 832-8256, or write to us at: ERIC Clearinghouse for Community Colleges. 3051 Moore Hall, Box 951521. University of California, Los Angeles. Los Angeles, CA 90095-1521