Factors That Influence Community College Transfer Students' Satisfaction with Their Baccalaureate Institutions.

Research on persistence to degree suggests that students' satisfaction with their institution is a good predictor of successfully completing a baccalaureate degree. This study examines the direct and indirect personal and institutional factors that influence community college transfer students' satisfaction with their baccalaureate institutions and, ultimately, their persistence to degree. Significant predictors in this study were transfer process, financial aid, and social integration. Results indicated that major issues affecting student satisfaction with the baccalaureate institution and persistence to degree include: (1) institutional influences at both the community college and baccalaureate institution; (2) student expectation of what is involved at both the community college and baccalaureate institution; (3) student expectations of what is involved in the transfer process; (4) student experiences in the execution of the transfer process; (5) student educational and career goals; and (6) factors affecting academic performance and time to degree. The author suggests that, as the acceptance of community college transfer students as equal partners in the higher education community increases, researchers and institutions should take the opportunity to assess student satisfaction and develop models of student persistence. Contains 83 references. (JA) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE COMMUNITY COLLEGE TRANSFER STUDENTS' SATISFACTION WITH THEIR BACCALAUREATE INSTITUTIONS U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION X CENTER (ERIC) This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy. Barbara E. Alpern Walsh College This study examined the direct and indirect personal and institutional factors that influenced community college transfer students' satisfaction with their baccalaureate institutions and ultimately, their persistence to degree. A conceptual model was proposed Significant predictors were transfer process and financial aid information and social integration. Further studies are recommended INTRODUCTION 1 A unique student body has emerged as a viable member of the higher education community. This group's evolution is the result of the extensive growth of community college and baccalaureate institution collaborations and is recognized by the diverse characteristics associated with nontraditional students. The traditional four-year college education is no longer the only route a student can follow to complete a baccalaureate degree. As the number of students, especially nontraditional students, seeking baccalaureate degrees continues to increase, the paths they take to achieve their goals differ. This growing population of students has created a need to examine the transfer process that has developed between community colleges and baccalaureate institutions, four-year as well as two-year (upper division) institutions and, in doing so, identify factors that influence transfer students' persistence to degree. (4" Some students who pursue their baccalaureate degrees by first attending a community college may not have planned their programs in great detail, the completion date is "somewhere in ,L) PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) 1.2 BEST COPY AVAILABLE the future" an unknown time. For others, the degree completion is a date already established and may be one that is more than five years away. Entering into these planning ambiguities are individual personal traits such as educational and career goals, maturity, and culture. "The contemporary student, statistically speaking, is no longer upper middle class, adolescent, or male; instead the proportion of working-class and minority students has increased dramatically, older students are now commonplace, and women undergraduates now outnumber men" (London, 1992). This changed student profile has been reported by several researchers (e.g., Adelman, 1992; Cohen & Brawer, 1987, 1996; Eaton, 1990, 1992, 1994a; Grubb, 1991; Kintzer, 1997; Kintzer & Wattenbarger, 1985; Knoell, 1990, 1994; Palmer & Pugh, 1993). It is important to understand and examine the factors that influence transfer students' perceptions of the transfer process as most attrition models, (i.e., Bean, 1985; Tinto, 1987), focus only on traditional undergraduate students (aged18-21 who matriculate directly into the baccalaureate institution). Research on persistence to degree suggests that students' satisfaction with their institution is a good predictor of completing a baccalaureate degree successfully. As persisters, students who "interact with the college or university organizationally, academically, and socially" (Bean, 1990, p.154), may interact with the college community on several levels. The college environment simultaneously can influence students to decide to persist or drop out of school. Major issues that may affect student satisfaction with the baccalaureate institution choice and influence persistence to degree include institutional influences at both the community college and baccalaureate institution, student expectations of what is involved in the transfer process, student experiences in the execution of the transfer process, student educational and career goals, and factors affecting academic performance and time to degree. According to Knoell (1990) and others (e.g., Cohen & Brawer, 1987; Eaton, 1993; Kintzer & Wattenbarger, 1985; Palmer,