Colleges find success in transfers to four-year colleges

Two-year colleges that are successful in helping their students transfer to four-year institutions share three important characteristics, according to a new report from the Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education. The three characteristics are:

• A "structured academic pathway" that prepares students to enroll at four-year institutions.
• A student-centered culture that focuses on personal attention, ease of service and collaboration.
• Culturally sensitive leadership and awareness throughout of the institution.

The report, Bridging the Gaps to Success: Promising Practices for Promoting Transfer Among Low-Income and First-Generation Students, is based on research into policies and practices at six Texas community colleges with higher-than-expected rates of student-transfer success.

For each of the three key institutional characteristics, the report identifies and discusses several specific college practices that support successful transfer, especially for low-income and first-generation students:

• A structured academic pathway includes well-established institutional articulation agreements with four-year institutions, robust dual/concurrent enrollment programs for high school students, innovative developmental (i.e., remedial/basic skills) coursework initiatives and active learning emphasizing practical hands-on research.
• A student-centered culture provides "one-stop" student service centers, specialized advising, flexible scheduling and an emphasis on engaging students in the college community.
• Culturally sensitive leadership emphasizes both community outreach and hiring practices – from the president down – that develop a faculty and staff that understands the needs of the student body. That includes having faculty and staff that come from similar economic and socio-cultural backgrounds.

The report concludes with an overarching recommendation that community colleges "develop and implement institutional-wide strategy to incorporate and integrate ‘promising practices' as discussed in the findings. The first step is a thorough discussion of existing practices and an analysis of the current institutional data on transfer." And underpinning all institutional efforts and analyses must be "a fundamental belief in and commitment to students."