This dissertation examined the relationship between the three year academic success of transfer students and the variables of race, gender, age, number of transfer credit hours, and place of residence. The study was conducted at Midwestern State University, a public, regional four-year institution and followed the incoming transfer classes of the fall 2005 (N = 292), 2006 (N = 323), and 2007 (N = 286) semesters. The subjects included in this study were all new transfer students who met the university.s requirement to live on campus. The dependent variable, three year academic success, was defined as whether or not the student was still persisting or had graduated within three years from the date of initial enrollment. The independent variables were housing status during the first semester after transfer, age at time of transfer, gender, race, and the number of credit hours at the time of transfer. The first research question aimed to determine if housing status impacted the three year academic success in the population. Chi-square analysis found that there were no significant distributions of the students who lived on-campus and the students who lived off-campus during their first semester after transfer. The second research question aimed to determine if the variables of age at the time of transfer, credit hours at the time of transfer, gender, race, and campus housing status impacted three year success. Logistic Regression showed that only gender (.003) was significant at ? = .05. The Exp(B) value for gender (1.514), showed that females were 1.514 times more likely to be successful than males when all other variables were controlled. The effect size of .019 indicated that the model only accounted for 1.9% of the variance, indicating that the model may not be a great predictor of student academic success. The results of this study, conducted at a regional, public, four-year institution, show that transfer students who lived in campus housing during their first semester after transfer did not achieve three year academic success at a significantly different rate than those students who lived off-campus. However, the study did find that females were 1.514 more time likely to be successful than their male counterparts.

No description available.

The purpose of this study was to understand the experiences and expectations of community college students attending Temple College and Central Texas College regarding what they may expect as part of the vertical transfer process in order to improve the likelihood of their persistence to graduation at Texas A&M University-Central Texas (TAMUCT). The target population was approximately 700 students enrolled in two feeder Texas community colleges who had expressed intent to transfer to TAMUCT. The response rate was 19%, and 136 useable surveys were used for analysis. The sample was 74% female, 45% White with the majority minority. To assess the relationships between community college experiences and transfer expectation variables, correlations and logistic regression were used. No linear relationships were found regarding gender, age, ethnicity, highest level of parents' education, the aspirational variables of highest academic degree intend to obtain at any college or university and at TAMUCT, and the feeder community college attended and the two scales. A statistically significant relationship was found between parental income level and reported community college experiences (F(4, 79) = 2.612, p = .042) and vertical transfer expectations (F(4, 52) = 3.318, p = .017). Community college students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds may utilize the community college to upper-level institution vertical transfer pathway as a way to obtain an affordable baccalaureate degree. Community colleges and university administrators need to continue working together to establish unique and creative ways to create seamless transitions for vertical transfer students utilizing the community college to upper-level institution pathway to degree completion.

The problem of this study was to compare native North Texas State University students with selected two-year college transfers to determine which group was more successful at the university.

There is a population of student-athletes who are in need of deeper understanding and additional support. Community college transfer student-athletes face different challenges than their non-athlete and non-transfer peers. Given these differences, this qualitative study was focused on understanding the experiences and perceptions of community college transfer student-athletes. More specifically, this study aimed to describe the preparation to transfer, the transfer process, and the recommendations for successful transfer as each relates to academics, athletics, and personal factors. For this qualitative study, data were collected through individual interviews, a focus group, as well as observation and reflection. Fourteen themes emerged through coding and analysis. These themes answered the three research questions as well as increased the literature on an under-researched population. Key implications for future research surrounding community college transfer student-athletes emerged including a focus on a need for academic clarity, earlier recruitment, strong relationships, and excellent time management skills.

This text reflects on the perceptions of “native” and transfer agricultural students during their time at a Mississippi land grant university through a quantitative survey to all undergraduate students in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Mississippi State University. This research used an ex post facto survey to look at perceptions of native and transfer students enrolled in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Mississippi State University and determine if there were significant differences between the two groups in constructs of student experience. This study identified transfer and native students’ perceived collegiate experience in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Mississippi State University using an online survey. The findings from this study show no statistical significance between native and transfer students for any of the four constructs, but find a median value for all constructs to be higher than neutral on a Likert scale.

In this study, the research problem was underrepresented minority (URM) male and female transfer students and male transfer students of all ethnicities who were placed on academic suspension, thus removing their chances of being retained and graduating. The purpose of this study was to see to what extent there were relationships between the dependent variables retention and graduation and the independent variables ethnicity, gender, and enrollment in a retention program. A total of 295 participants were included in the study: 119 students who chose to enroll in the retention program and 176 students who chose not to enroll. Descriptive statistics were run to report the demographic data. A binary logistic regression was used to examine the relationship between the demographic variables (i.e., ethnicity, male, retention program enrollment, retention first year, and graduation from a period of 2014–2016). The results yielded that ethnicity had no effect on retention or graduation. Also, the male gender had no effect on retention or graduation. Students were more likely to be retained if they enrolled in a retention program as compared to those who did not enroll. Also, students were more likely to graduate if they enrolled in a retention program as compared to those who chose not to enroll. The study concluded with a summary of the findings as well as limitations of the study. Recommendations were discussed for practitioners and policy makers to include information for students, faculty, and advisors to encourage career exploration. Future research recommendations included expanding the study to all students, conducting a qualitative study to see why students chose not to enroll in a retention program, and examining the participants’ current program of study.

The purpose of the study was to investigate the rate at which community college transfer students graduate from the 4 year college and what variables can be used to explain the corresponding graduation rates. In addition, the study attempted to answer the identical question regarding the rate at which native students graduate from the 4 year college and the variables that can be used to explain the native student graduate rates. Finally, the study made comparisons between the community college transfer student variables that explained the corresponding graduation rates and the native student variables that explained their corresponding graduation rates to determine if differences existed between the two groups. The data collected on the community college transfer and native students at Mississippi State University was analyzed in a two-group logistical regression. For each group, a logistical regression was built, that included the independent variables of the student demographic characteristics (age, gender, race and academic discipline) and the ability measures/lower-level academic success measures (ACT/SAT test score, high school grade point average and lower level college grade point average). The results from the logistical regression for the transfer and native students were compared. Delta-Ps, the change in predicted probability, were calculated for each independent variable and then compared for transfer and native students. The conclusions of the study were the following native students appear to be better prepared to graduate than community college transfer students, the lower-level grade point average and number of lower-level credit hours earned appear to consistently explain the rates of graduation for both groups, as these two variables were significant for both groups. Transfer and native students in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) category appear to be less prepared to graduate or encounter more obstacles to graduate than students in the other academic discipline categories. Running separate logistic models for each academic discipline category was effective in assessing the particular variables that impact graduation for the community college transfer and native students.

No description available.

Students who attend community colleges often transfer to 4-year universities seeking to earn a degree typically not offered at the community college level. Tennessee has 2 programs: the Tennessee Promise and the Tennessee Reconnect programs that offer students tuition-free access to the state’s community college system. Previous studies have been conducted to compare transfer students’ performances to that of native students and typically compared the students in all disciplines. This study seeks to compare transfer students (students who enter the participating university with 40 or more credit hours) to native students (students who initially enrolled or transferred into the 4-year participating university with fewer than 40 credit hours) the engineering technology major (ENTC) to determine if transfer students are doing as well as or better than native students. The present study used archival data from student records from fall 2008 through fall 2017. The data were provided by Institutional Research at the participating university. The dataset included 416 transfer students and 900 native students. Students were classified as transfer or native based on study criteria. They were then divided into subgroups by gender, Pell grant recipient status, first-generation status, 3000 and 4000 level GPA, high-school GPA, ACT composite scores, age, and whether the student graduated or not. The data were analyzed quantitatively seeking to find differences between the native and transfer students’ graduation rates and differences in the subgroups. The 3000 and 4000 level coursework GPA were examined for transfer shock. There were significant differences between transfer and native students in graduation rates, percent who were first-generation, Pell grant recipient status, and age. Overall, graduation rates for transfer students were 38.8% and 21.8% for native students. The findings indicated that 48.8% of female transfer students persisted to graduation compared to 17.3% of native female students. Male transfer students and male native students graduated at a rate of 43.1% and 22.0%, respectively. There were no significant differences in 3000 and 4000 course level GPA, high-school GPA, or ACT composite scores between the two groups.