Study examines lack of access to elite colleges and universities for community college high achievers
Quincy, MA – A study released today by an alliance of university researchers and higher-education foundations finds that fewer than one out of every 1,000 students at the nation’s private elite four-year colleges is a community college transfer student, even though more than 40 percent of undergraduates are in community colleges.
The year-long study was conducted jointly by researchers from the University of Massachusetts, Boston and the University of Southern California and funded by the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, the Lumina Foundation for Education and the Nellie Mae Education Foundation. Copies of the study may be downloaded at www.jackkentcookefoundation.org.
"High-achieving community college students represent an enormous talent pool that prestigious four-year institutions have largely overlooked," said Blenda J. Wilson, President and CEO of the Nellie Mae Education Foundation. "Many of those students come from low-income backgrounds, and research shows they can succeed at even the most demanding four-year college. As a matter of educational equity, and as a national economic imperative, we must increase opportunities for motivated community college students to transfer to highly selective colleges and universities."
Researchers at UMass Boston’s New England Resource Center for Higher Education (NERCHE) were part of the team that conducted the study. Alicia Dowd is an assistant professor in the Graduate College of Education and Glenn Gabbard is associate director of NERCHE.
"Some promising partnerships already exist, but much more work is needed to dismantle barriers and challenge cultural assumptions at both sending and receiving institutions," said Gabbard. "Successful transfer programs create educational opportunity, reward highly motivated students, and improve diversity at elite schools."
Key findings of the study include:
- The opportunity to transfer to elite institutions is shrinking. In 1984, 10.5 percent of students at private elite colleges were transfer students. In 2002, that number had dropped to only 5.7 percent.
- Nearly 75 percent of community college transfer students attending selective institutions completed their four-year degrees within 8.5 years of high school graduation. The study finds that number may increase to 80-90% for students who transfer to the most selective institutions.
- Community college students who successfully go on to highly selective four-year schools cite critical relationships with faculty or counselors as the reason they were able to transfer. Yet, these relationships often happen accidentally as opposed to resulting from structured opportunities.
The research provides models for community colleges and elite colleges and universities to work together to greatly increase the number of low-income transfer students.
- Talented community college students should be encouraged to apply to highly selective four-year schools.
- To reduce financial barriers, counselors should make students aware of the financial aid packages selective schools provide.
- Four-year colleges and universities should recruit, support, and orient transfer students to help them succeed.
The research study will inform and support a five-year initiative by the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation to increase opportunities for high-achieving, low-income community college students. Earlier this year, the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation awarded grants totaling $6.78 million to eight four-year institutions across the nation to develop model transfer programs. The grantees include Amherst College, Bucknell University, Cornell University, Mount Holyoke College, the University of California-Berkeley, the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the University of Southern California.
On June 28-29, in Washington D.C, the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation will host a national forum to discuss strategies for increasing access and success for community college transfer students at selective four-year colleges and universities. More information on the forum and the Community College Transfer Initiative is available at www.jackkentcookefoundation.org.
Nick Lorenzen 781.348.4239
Nellie Mae Education Foundation
Nlorenzen@nmefdn.org
Sue Evans 206.792.0408
Jack Kent Cooke Foundation
sue@pyramidcommunications.com
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