Research Highlights from the Student Transitions Project
Author: Heslop, Joanne
Date: 2018-06-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Foreign Countries,High School Graduates,Enrollment,Public Colleges,Enrollment Trends,School Holding Power,Grade Point Average,Bachelors Degrees,Student Characteristics,Differences,Regional Characteristics,College Programs,Academic Achievement,Grades (Scholastic),Language Arts,Remedial Instruction,Institutional Characteristics,School Districts

The Student Transitions Project is British Columbia's collaborative research project that measures student success from the K-12 to post -secondary systems. This system-wide partnership, involving B.C.'s education and advanced education ministries and public postsecondary institutions, is tracking student success by reporting on student transition rates to postsecondary education, student mobility among post-secondary institutions, and post-secondary completion and retention rates. The Student Transitions Project (STP) has collected student enrollment data from fifteen recent grade 12 graduation cohorts and fifteen years of post-secondary registrants, since the project's inception in 2003. This newsletter provides the highlights of the latest research from the STP, with a focus on the first transitions of B.C. grade 12 graduates into B.C. public post-secondary education. The STP continues to be an important tool for tracking student transitions and mobility in B.C.'s education systems. The following research questions are addressed in this newsletter: (1) What proportion of B.C. grade 12 graduates enroll in BC. public post-secondary education?; (2) What are the trends in immediate and delayed entry transition rates?; (3) What are the trends in the number of grade 12 graduates and how does this affect the number of immediate-entry students each year?; (4) What is the cumulative transition rate for STP's first grade 12 graduation cohort 15 years after 2001/2002 graduation?; (5) What are the long-run trends in cumulative student transition rates?; (6) Do immediate-entry and delayed-entry students typically enrol in different institution types, and why?; (7) Do immediate-entry and delayed-entry students seek different post-secondary credentials when they first enrol in B.C.?; (8) Do immediate-entry and delayed-entry students enroll in different programs?; (9) What are the program-level trends for students entering B.C. public post-secondary institutions after grade 12 graduation?; (10) Do academic qualifications from high school influence time of post-secondary entry or type of institution and program enrolled in?; (11) What proportion of B.C. grade 12 graduates are retained in the B.C. system in the year following their first transition to B.C. public post-secondary education?; (12) Do students who enrol in post-secondary education in the same region as their high school have higher first-year retention rates?; (13) Are Language Arts 12 course grades good predictors of post-secondary retention?; (14) Are there any differences in the first-year retention rates and iGPA scores across post-secondary programs entered?; (15) What is the education progression of retained developmental students?; (16) What are the trends in the proportion of Bachelor's degrees awarded at each of the four institution types in B.C.?; (17) What are the student transition rates into B.C. public post-secondary education along various student demographic characteristics?; and (18) How do immediate-entry transition rates vary by region, school type and school district in B.C.?