In this time when our educational pipeline is leaking students and higher education credential attainment is declining, four-year institutions must roll-up their sleeves and coordinate efforts with their community college counterparts in the name of national student success. Never before has it been as crucial for a seamless transfer process and updated transfer practices as it is now. Our country’s economic success depends on the education attainment of our students. Baccalaureate institutions should take a lesson from community colleges in how to act quickly to serve local market demands and how to remove barriers toward creating student access. Institutions like, University of Maryland University College, have proven to be leaders in 2+2 transfer partnerships across the country providing quality, affordable education for community college graduates, especially targeting non-traditional students.
At UMUC, community college students represent more than 40 percent of our student body. We know first hand that community colleges are critical partners for raising student achievement. With 2+2, UMUC accepts up to 70 credit hours giving students more options, more flexibility and more opportunities to pursue an affordable four-year degree. Among UMUC’s more than 45 alliance partners are all 16 Maryland community colleges, Northern Virginia Community College, Maricopa Community Colleges, Dallas Community College District, Houston Community College System, Lone Star College System, Honolulu Community College, Gloucester County College and Miami Dade College. This vast network supports accessibility and affordability to a college education—the primary mission of the community college movement. And the retention rate of community college students at UMUC is 87 percent, far higher than the national average.
Lisa Romano
Assistant Vice President, Community Relations
University of Maryland University College
Comments (7)
Excellent points, Lisa. Another benefit with the two plus two is that students will first attain the Associates degree credential. With so many students on thier way to the B.A. or B.S, life gets in the way and it is never or much later attained. With an AA or AS degree completed, the student has that solid post-secondary credential upon which to build the second part of the two plus two, in a timeframe that meets with their personal needs. For so many students who are struggling to make ends meet while attending college, they may just need that break in between. do you think the two plus two improves chances for completing the AA?
Christine Hagedorn
Assistant Dean, Student Services
Bucks County Community College, Newtown, PA 18940
In addition to improving the chances of completing an associates degree, I would imagine that a smooth transfer process increases the likelihood of completing the B.A. degree as well. Is the completion rate higher for transfer students compared to traditional students?
Thanks,
Tracy Schario
Consultant
Hi, Tracy. Great question but not an easy answer! There is no doubt that a well designed 2+2 transfer pathway would increase bachelor degree completion rates simply because students are able to fully utilize their associate degree credits and do not encounter the typical roadblocks such as lack of access to advising at the baccalaureate institution; the need to retake courses already completed at the community college; lack of transitional services and the lack of affordability of earning a bachelor’s degree - all possible contributors towards "transfer shock." A well designed and implemented 2+2 program should mitigate the effects of transfer shock among community college transfer students.
However research in the area of 2+2 transfer processes is lacking, to say the least, but at UMUC we have rich data on our community college transfer students. According to our institutional data, community college transfer students, especially those who transfer earning at least 60 cc credits and/or an associate’s degree display a much higher rate of persistence. Community college transfer students at UMUC are among our most successful students. Our goal is to promote student success by removing barriers that can lead to transfer shock.
Overall in the limited literature available related to the community college transfer students, data reveals that community college students do lag behind their native four-year counterparts (Horn and Weko, 2009), however CC students who transfer with an associate’s degree do complete bachelor’s degrees at much higher rates than transfer students who transfer prior to associate degree completion, 43% to 17% (McCormick, 1997). As you can see, more research is critically needed in transfer areas to better serve both traditional and non-traditional community college students.
Use the goal of the second two years, and a clear and workable administrative process, to increase the community colleges' intention to become truly collegiate in their standards and levels of work.
I am a student who is actually in a 3+1 Transfer Partnership between my community college and a private Catholic university. We take three years of school paying community college tuition and one paying private. This provides a wonderful opportunity for me to receive a private school education for much less cost.
The degree plan is set up so there is no question about whether or not classes will transfer and there are lower level classes that are required that are specific to our degree. I believe programs like the one I am involved in can make a huge difference for students who want to pursue a quality education and still be able to afford it.
What I wonder about is whether the pay for those instructors who teach the lower-division courses in the community colleges is anywhere near equitable with that received by professors at their university counterpart. Community colleges don't have anywhere near the resources that available to state-funded institutions.
I am a student who -- as an adult -- received a Certificate in .NET Programming from a community college in Washington state. The education was every bit as rigorous as what I encountered during my four-year undergraduate work at the University of Washington. Largely different between the two schools, however, was the fact that the resources available at the CC level were vastly inadequate for both the number of students and the quality of education being delivered.
Hi Lisa. Saw that UMUC has posted a video on its community college partnerships. Solid success story. 48-hour turnaround on transcripts is impressive.
UMUC Community College Partnerships