Bachelor's Degree Students Attending Community Colleges: A Look at Postbaccalaureate Reverse Transfers in Missouri

1999 ◽  
Vol 1999 (106) ◽  
pp. 57-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terry L. Barnes ◽  
Laura M. Robinson
Keyword(s):  
Community Colleges ◽  
Bachelor's Degree ◽  
Reverse Transfers

Are Community Colleges an Alternative Path for Hispanic Students to Attain a Bachelor's Degree?

2009 ◽  
Vol 111 (1) ◽  
pp. 90-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tatiana Melguizo
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Community College ◽  
Community Colleges ◽  
Hispanic Students ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Bachelor's Degree ◽  
Institutional Characteristics ◽  
High School Senior ◽  
Senior Class ◽  
School Senior

Background/Context This study contributes to the longstanding debate over whether community colleges democratize education or divert students from attaining a bachelor's degree. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study The objective of this study is to determine whether Hispanic students have a lower chance of earning a bachelor's degree (B.A.) if they transfer from a community college. Population/Participants/Subjects This study uses the High School and Beyond Sophomore sample (HS&B/So) high school senior class of 1982 and the National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS:88/2000) high school senior class of 1992 to compare the progress of two samples of “traditional” Hispanic transfer and Hispanic “rising junior” students. The final sample is composed of 220 students from the high school senior class of 1982 and 140 students from the high school senior class of 1992. Research Design Regression analysis is used to identify the effect of being a transfer student on B.A. attainment, after controlling for individual characteristics and institutional characteristics of the community college. Simulation analysis is used to identify the factors that affected B.A. attainment in the 1980s, which are used to predict B.A. rates a decade later. Findings/Results The results show that the negative impact of being a transfer student in the 1980s had disappeared within a decade. The results suggest that the relatively lower attainment rate of Hispanic transfer students is the result of individual characteristics and lack of academic preparation rather than institutional characteristics. Conclusions/Recommendations Although community colleges have the potential to be an alternative path toward a B.A., until transfer rates increase, Hispanics may be better off beginning their college education at a 4-year institution.

Expanding the Role of Community Colleges With Workforce Baccalaureate Programs

2021 ◽  
pp. 28-58
Author(s):  
Carmen M. Dones
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Community College ◽  
Community Colleges ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Community College Student ◽  
Bachelor's Degree ◽  
Baccalaureate Degrees ◽  
Mission Creep ◽  
Equity Value ◽  
Bachelor's Degrees

Community colleges have been expanding their mission to include the conferring of bachelor's degrees in career education programs for many years, which has been met with consternation over the quality of a bachelor's degree from a community college, as well as with resources in higher education being limited or redirected when there has been cutbacks in funding. Legislators in some states and critics in higher education refer to the phenomenon of community colleges offering baccalaureate degrees as mission creep, opposed to seeing the equity value in higher degree attainment. Thus, the purpose of the study is to analyze state policies through examination of secondary data to determine the purpose of the community college bachelor's degree programs nationwide, the types of programs being offered, as well as what the phenomenon reveals about being a viable pathway to a higher education degree for the typical community college student.

Baccalaureate Success of Transfers and Rising 4-Year College Juniors

2009 ◽  
Vol 111 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tatiana Melguizo ◽  
Alicia C. Dowd
Keyword(s):  
Community College ◽  
Community Colleges ◽  
Degree Completion ◽  
Bachelor's Degree ◽  
The State ◽  
Low Ses ◽  
Completion Rates ◽  
Institutional Selectivity ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Junior Students

Background/Context A longstanding debate continues concerning whether community colleges democratize education by expanding enrollment or divert students from attaining a bachelor's degree. The extant evidence is contradictory, but recent findings suggest that community colleges are serving to democratize education without a sizeable diversion effect preventing students from ultimately earning the bachelor's degree. The diversion effect appears to be much smaller than previously stated. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study The main objective of this study is to compare the effect of being a successful community college “transfer” student instead of a “rising junior” in a 4-year college on bachelor's degree attainment (250 transfers and 790 rising juniors). This study examines the effect of socioeconomic status (SES) and institutional selectivity on the bachelor's degree completion of transfer students and rising 4-year college juniors. Data Collection and Analysis We analyze the National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS:88/2000) high school senior class of 1992 to compare the degree completion outcomes of two samples—transfer and rising junior students—with equivalent degree aspirations. Logistic regression is used to estimate the differences in attainment. Interactions are included to examine the effect of SES and institutional selectivity. To address the problem of selection of students into institutions, we control for proxy variables for students’ motivation. In addition, a Heckman two-stage regression model is estimated using the average state tuition in the state where the student finished high school as the instrumental variable. Finally, to adjust for unobserved institutional characteristics related to the state where the institution is located, a model that includes a state-level dummy variable indicating those that have strong transfer and articulation systems is estimated to more fully control for state characteristics. Findings/Results Three main findings emerge from this inquiry. First, the negative effect of being a transfer as opposed to a rising junior diminishes substantially after controlling for differences in SES. The negative effect “disappears” in the sense of not being statistically significant, after corrections for self-selection bias and the addition of variables controlling for transfer policies in the state where the student attended college. Second, and consistent with prior research, degree completion rates increase with selectivity of the 4-year institution attended. Third, the results show that when we allow the effects of community college attendance to vary by SES by introducing an interaction term, there are no statistically significant differences between the completion rates of low-SES transfer and low-SES rising junior students. Conclusions/Recommendations Our main conclusion is that previous estimates have overstated the diversion effect. Alongside other recent contributions to the democratization-ver-sus-diversion-effect debate, this study provides an additional piece of evidence demonstrating that the diversion effect is much smaller than was previously estimated. Community college practitioners should feel confident in counseling traditional-age students who want to earn the bachelor's degree to transfer, because the evidence shows that they are as likely to succeed as their 4-year college counterparts.

scholarly journals American Community Colleges: The International Student’s Guide

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 1264-1266
Author(s):  
Nara M. Martirosyan
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Community College ◽  
Community Colleges ◽  
International Students ◽  
Undergraduate Education ◽  
International Student ◽  
The United States ◽  
Bachelor's Degree ◽  
Foreign Countries ◽  
Tuition Costs

As a former international student, I never thought of an American Community College as being a choice to start undergraduate education in the United States. This is also true for many prospective international students who explore study opportunities in the United States. American community colleges (also called 2-year colleges) offer diverse higher education opportunities with comparatively lower tuition costs. Moreover, unlike in many other foreign countries, American community colleges are often the best pathway to a bachelor’s degree through transfer agreements that exist between community colleges and 4-year institutions.

Off the Beaten Path: Can Statewide Articulation Support Students Transferring in Nonlinear Directions?

2021 ◽  
pp. 000283122199978
Author(s):  
George Spencer
Keyword(s):  
Degree Attainment ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Bachelor's Degree ◽  
Academic Major ◽  
Articulation Agreements ◽  
Reverse Transfer ◽  
Articulation Agreement ◽  
Bachelor's Degree Attainment ◽  
Reverse Transfers ◽  
Support Students

Students who transfer between colleges risk losing credits and decreasing their chances of degree completion. Despite emerging evidence regarding the effectiveness of articulation agreements to address this challenge, it is unclear if these policies support nonlinear transfer pathways—including lateral transfer between 4-year colleges or reverse transfer to 2-year colleges. I use propensity score weighting to examine a statewide articulation agreement in Ohio that established universal credit acceptance for coursework affecting all transfers. Comparing students who completed universally transferrable courses with those who did not, I find no measurable difference in degree attainment among reverse transfers. But there is a positive association with bachelor's degree attainment among lateral transfers, which the findings suggest is related to academic major persistence.

“To Meet the Training and Retraining Needs of Established Business”

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Dorn
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Community College ◽  
Community Colleges ◽  
Rhode Island ◽  
Junior Colleges ◽  
Bachelor's Degree ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Santa Fe ◽  
Small Business Development ◽  
Undergraduate Study

This chapter explores community colleges. The community college is the workhorse of American higher education—and it has never been more popular. Yet community colleges have received relatively little attention from historians, an unfortunate shortcoming both because the community college is the single form of higher education that Americans can lay legitimate claim to having “invented” and because the institution has undergone a remarkable historical transformation. Beginning in the early twentieth century as “junior colleges,” community colleges were designed to provide the first two years of undergraduate study leading to the bachelor's degree. Over time, however, many became training grounds for individuals seeking occupational certification while also serving as resources for small-business development and agents of small-scale technology transfer. The chapter then looks at the cases of the Community College of Rhode Island and Santa Fe Community College to illustrate how a rising ethos of affluence guided the transformation of community colleges.

Competing for Bachelor’s Degrees: Are Community Colleges Cutting Into the Market Share of 4-Year Institutions?

2020 ◽  
pp. 000283122094630
Author(s):  
Dennis A. Kramer ◽  
Justin C. Ortagus ◽  
Jacqueline Donovan
Keyword(s):  
Community Colleges ◽  
Market Share ◽  
Comprehensive Evaluation ◽  
Bachelor's Degree ◽  
Degree Programs ◽  
For Profit ◽  
Degree Production ◽  
Bachelor's Degrees ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
The Impact

To address local workforce needs and expand access to affordable bachelor’s degrees, some states allow community colleges to offer bachelor’s degree programs. Despite concerns that community college baccalaureate (CCB) programs will duplicate efforts and cut into the market share of nearby 4-year institutions, extant literature has yet to examine the impact of CCB adoption on bachelor’s degree program enrollment and bachelor’s degree production at 4-year institutions. Using program-level data, our findings show that local CCB degree programs have a negative effect on overall bachelor’s degree enrollment and bachelor’s degree production at 4-year institutions, but this effect is concentrated primarily within for-profit 4-year institutions. This study represents the first comprehensive evaluation of the impact of CCB degree programs on neighboring 4-year institutions.

scholarly journals International Reverse Transfer Students: A Critical Analysis Based on Field, Habitus, and Social and Cultural Capital

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 376-399
Author(s):  
Yu “April” Chen ◽  
Ran Li ◽  
Linda Serra Hagedorn
Keyword(s):  
Community Colleges ◽  
International Students ◽  
Cultural Capital ◽  
Transfer Students ◽  
Learning Experiences ◽  
Influential Factors ◽  
Reverse Transfer ◽  
Social And Cultural Capital ◽  
Reverse Transfer Students ◽  
Reverse Transfers

Objective: International reverse transfer students are international students who begin their postsecondary journey at a four-year institution but subsequently transfer to a community college. In this qualitative study, we examine the lived experiences of international reverse transfers to understand the reasons for reverse-transfer and to understand the students’ learning experiences. Methods: Using a phenomenological approach, we recruited 10 international reverse transfer students attending one four-year university or one of the two community colleges. We conducted individual interviews with all participants and analyzed transcript data through Bourdieu’s sociological theory of field, habitus, and social and cultural capital. Results: We identified three types of international reverse transfer students: undergraduate reverse transfers, temporary reverse transfers, and postbaccalaureate reverse transfers. Each type reported different reasons for reverse transfer but shared similar influential factors of the reverse transfer process as well as the learning experiences while enrolled at the community colleges. Contributions: This study helps to fill an information and research gap regarding international reverse transfer students. We present the academic, social, and cultural challenges faced by international students and offer practical implications for higher education practitioners for improved understandings and better processes to serve international students from diverse cultural backgrounds.

The False Promises of Community Colleges: Class Conflict and Vocational Education

1980 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 332-361 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fred Pincus
Keyword(s):  
Community Colleges ◽  
Working Class ◽  
Vocational Education ◽  
College Graduates ◽  
Educational Aspirations ◽  
Bachelor's Degree ◽  
Class Conflict ◽  
Attractive Alternative

Vocational education in public community colleges has been touted as an attractive alternative to the bachelor's degree. Arguing that vocational education has been developed in response to the rising educational aspirations of the working class and the decreasing opportunities for young college graduates to find employment, Fred Pincus reviews the history and controversies surrounding its establishment and growth and examines available data about its economic payoff for students. The data raise serious questions about the likelihood of such rewards, and these findings make it difficult to promote vocational education as a prerequisite to satisfying, well-paid jobs.

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