Only 14 percent of students who transfer from community college to a four-year school graduate with a bachelor’s degree within six years, according to a joint study from the Community College Research Center (CCRC), Aspen Institute College Excellence Program and National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) Research Center.
Unpacking that number a bit, it should be remembered that not all students choose to transfer to a four-year college from a community college. Nor is it a perfect snapshot of community college transfer student success overall. Case in point, a recent NSC study found that, on average, community college transfer students attain their bachelor’s degree within three years after earning their associates.
Dr. Davis Jenkins, a senior research associate at CCRC and co-author of the report, said that the purpose of the study was to look at measures and characteristics that help two- and four-year colleges succeed in terms of their transfer student graduation rates. Moreover, “momentum matters,” he said, with regards to completion rates.
“It’s true that if we tracked all the states and institutions over a longer period, we would see higher rates, but research we’ve done suggest that institutions that do better in the short term, also do better in the longer term,” he said. Over the years, students lose access to certain resources, such as the Pell Grant program, which has a six-year eligibility limit.
Overall, Jenkins said, “There’s a surprising amount of variation in outcomes at both two- and four-year colleges.” Certain characteristics, such as a rural location or low-income student population, he added, which might be expected to be an indicator of lower outcomes, turn out not to be. There is also a great deal of variability among states, and within states, variation among institutional states.
On average, certain four-year institutions do a better job at helping community college transfer students graduate. Public four-year colleges tend to do better than private four-year colleges, while for-profits have very limited success. The report found that less than 10 percent of community college transfer students graduate with a bachelor’s degree in six years from for-profit colleges.
“All of this is promising to us because it suggests that the type of students that colleges serve and the type of institution they are doesn’t necessarily determine outcomes, but this suggests that what colleges do makes a difference,” Jenkins said.
