Challenges Faced by Four Year Institutions that Accept Transfer Students from Community Colleges

Session Submission Type: Panel

Abstract

Most high school students plan to join a 4-year institution, but the reality is an increasing number of students join Community Colleges (CC) and then transfer to universities. This poses numerous challenges for the 4-year institutions. At the onset they compete with the CC for the same students and later accept them as transfer students. In the past when students chose to attend a CC it was mainly because they were unsure of their major or did not feel they were adequately prepared to join a 4-year institution. Today increasing number of students opt to join a local CC mainly for financial reasons. This is also the path for students who did not join any college out of high school or dropped out from a 4-year institution. CC play a vital role in our society. It is the gateway for many students to finally realize their dream of earning a 4-year degree. From the perspective of the 4-year institutions, transfer students from CC pose various challenges. A few students are well prepared, mature, have excellent time management skills and are ready to hit the ground running. Most students appear to never have transitioned from high school at all. While this was always a mixed bag, in recent years the well-prepared transfer students are a fast shrinking population. Many transfer students are not ready to navigate a 4-year institution, do not have the correct pre-requisites for their intended major, are not prepared to sit in large classes, make use of resources on campus, and finally look for jobs. These problems are universal. A few schools across the nation have dedicated a lot of time and effort into addressing these issues very successfully. But these challenges are constantly evolving.

Sub Track

• Mid-Atlantic Region Meeting

Moderator

• Arundhati Rao, Towson University

Panelists

• Eugene Herschal Cantor, University of Maryland

• Sharon G. Finney, Morgan State University