TCSG to USG Transfer Study Preliminary Results from Pilot Survey Research & Policy Analysis University System of Georgia Board of Regents

Trends on TCSG Transfer Students A large numbers of students transfer into USG institutions from TCSG institutions each year Largest percentages of TCSG transfers are located in State Colleges, State Universities and Two-Year Colleges.

Articulation Agreement 27 General Education courses which transfer between TCSG and USG. – Encourage pursuit of baccalaureate degree opportunities Questions of interest – Which courses transfer most frequently? – How do students perform in subject-specific follow up courses? – How do TCSG transfers compare to non-transfers? – Are there differences across TCSG sending institutions?

Pilot Survey Five Participating Institutions – Kennesaw, Georgia Highlands, Valdosta, Clayton, Columbus Record course-taking behavior of TCSG transfer students. – Start with students that transferred into USG in Fall 2012 – Follow for 1 year Data provided – Course name and grade received in each transfer course – Course name and grade received in subject-specific follow-up course – Average grade received by peers in follow-up course

Data Overview For this study, we focused on: 544 students that transferred 1,086 courses from TCSG to USG CohortNDates of Observation 1211Fall 2012 to Fall Spring 2013 to Spring Summer 2013 to Summer 2014* 4192Fall 2013 to Fall 2014* *Incomplete Data

Receiving Institution ClaytonColumbus Georgia HighlandsKennesawValdosta Sending Institution Albany Technical College13 Athens Technical College72 Atlanta Technical College113 Augusta Technical College2 Central Georgia Technical College1 Chattahoochee Technical College Columbus Technical College15 Georgia Northwestern Technical College215 Georgia Piedmont Technical College7 Gwinnett Technical College152 Lanier Technical College1 Middle Georgia Technical College21 Okefenokee Technical College1 Savannah Technical College2 Southeastern Technical College11 Southern Crescent Technical College2 Southwest Georgia Technical College1219 West Georgia Technical College51 Wiregrass Georgia Technical College66 Total

Take-Away TCSG transfer students: – Perform worse in follow-up courses than in transfer courses Likely due to higher difficulty level of follow-up courses – Are more likely to withdraw from follow-up courses. – Those that remain in class perform better than their classmates. Suggests differential attachment to courses which could be driven by characteristics of transfer students.

Finding 1: TCSG transfer students transfer anywhere from 1-6 articulated courses. The average is The number of courses transferred varies only slightly by sending institution.

Finding 2: Among the articulated courses, Math (1111/1113) and English (1101/1102) are the most often transferred.

Finding 3 (see Table 1): a)On average, TCSG transfer students earn lower grades in follow-up courses than in transfer courses – Not unexpected given that follow-up courses are often higher- level classes (see Appendix Table 1). – English and Math: Follow-up course performance is typically points lower. Largest difference for Psychology and Sociology courses, however note small sample size. b)Transfer students have high withdrawal rates in some subjects. – Math: 20% withdrew from follow-up course – English: 10% withdrew from follow-up course

c)Those that remain in the follow-up course earn higher grades than their classmates. – Math and English: Transfer students earn grades 0.3 points higher than average classmate. Finding 4 explores whether these behaviors are specific to transfer students. Finding 3 (see Table 1):

Table 1: Average Performance in Transfer and Follow-Up Course, by Transfer Course A=4, B=3, 2=C, 1=D, 0=F _________________Follow-Up Course_________________ Transfer Course GradeStudent GradeClass Average*% of WithdrawalsN Transfer Course ARTS %2 BIOL % /L % %2 CHEM 1151/L %12 ECON %25 ENGL % % % %36 HIST % % % % %25 HUMN %2

Table 1: Average Performance in Transfer and Follow-Up Course, by Transfer Course (continued) A=4, B=3, 2=C, 1=D, 0=F ______________________Follow-Up Course______________ Transfer Course GradeStudent GradeClass Average*% of WithdrawalsN Transfer Course MATH % % % % % %8 PHYS %1 POLS %11 PSY %42 SOC %15 SPC %20 *There are some inconsistencies across schools with respect to whether WF grades are included/excluded from the calculation of class average. Interpret with caution.

We compared the performance of students in the TCSG Pilot Study to non-transfer students using additional institutional data. We examined transfer and non-transfer students that took the following set of courses: – English: 1101 (initial) and 1102 (follow-up) – Math: 1111/3 (initial) and 1190 (follow-up) Finding 4 (see Tables 2 and 3):

a)Like transfer students, non-transfers do worse in follow- up courses, although to a slightly smaller degree. This suggests that it is the higher difficulty level of follow-up courses that leads to lower grades after transfer, and not lower ability among TCSG transfer students. b)However, withdrawal rates in follow-up courses are twice as high among transfer students compared to non-transfers. Transfer students may feel less pressure to continue with course, or are better at predicting their likelihood of success. Finding 4 (continued):

c)Demographic and academic characteristics of transfers may contribute to differences in course attachment Older More likely to be female Enroll for more credit hours than non-transfer students. Despite their higher withdrawal rates, they still earn a higher number of credit hours. Finding 4 (continued):

Table 2: Comparison of Performance in Follow-Up Courses for Transfer and Non-Transfer Students A=4, B=3, 2=C, 1=D, 0=F Transfer StudentsNon-Transfer Students _____________________________English__________________________ Avg. Grade % of Withdrawals 15.5%8.2% N ______________________________Math__________________________ Avg. Grade % of Withdrawals45.0%15.5% N Avg. Grade % of Withdrawals36.7%12.8% N

Table 3: Characteristics of Transfer and Non-Transfer Students in First Term of Enrollment Transfer StudentsNon-Transfer Students Age Male35%40% Ethnicity Black21.7%29.3% Hispanic9.7%5.8% White56.2%54.7% Other12.4%10.1% Hours Enrolled Hours Earned N

Table 4: Average Performance in Transfer and Follow-Up Course, by TCSG Sending Institution A=4, B=3, 2=C, 1=D, 0=F __________________Follow-Up Course_______________ Sending InstitutionTransfer GradeStudent GradeClass Average% that WithdrewN Albany Technical College %5 Athens Technical College %12 Atlanta Technical College %6 Augusta Technical College %1 Central Georgia Technical College %1 Chattahoochee Technical College %726 Columbus Technical College %19 Georgia Northwestern Technical College %27 Georgia Piedmont Technical College %15 Gwinnett Technical College %36 Lanier Technical College %2 Middle Georgia Technical College %3 Okefenokee Technical College %1 Savannah Technical College %4 Southeastern Technical College %2 Southern Crescent Technical College %3 Southwest Georgia Technical College %34 West Georgia Technical College %26 Wiregrass Georgia Technical College %123 Finding 5: No strong evidence of differential outcomes across TCSG sending institutions. Withdrawal rates close to 14% at largest institutions.

Questions? Future research – Larger sample size – Involve more institutions – Detailed comparison between transfers and non- transfers

Data Sources Figure 1: University System of Georgia Undergraduate Student Transfer Report; SRPT200; Multiple Years Figures 2-3, Tables 1-4, Appendix Table : TCSG to USG Pilot Survey Tables 2-3: USG Institutional Data

Appendix Table 1: List of Transfer Courses and Corresponding Follow-Up Courses Taken by Students TCSG Transfer Course USG Follow-Up CourseN TCSG Transfer Course USG Follow Up CourseN ARTS 1101 ART 11001ENGL 1102ENGL ART 11071ENGL ENGL BIOL 1111/LBIOL 10103ENGL BIOL 11001ENGL BIOL 26511ENGL SCI ENGL SCI 33601ENGL BIOL 1112BIOL 11001ENGL BIOL 26511ENGL ENGL CHEM 1151/LCHEM 1152/L12ENGL ENGL ECON 1101ECON ENGL ECON ECON 22003ENGL 2130ENGL ECON 23004ENGL ENGL ENGL 1101ENGL 00993ENGL ENGL 11017ENGL ENGL ENGL ENGL 20103ENGL ENGL ENGL ENGL ENGL ENGL ENGL ENGL ENGL ENGL 30103

Appendix Table 1: List of Transfer Courses and Corresponding Follow-Up Courses Taken by Students TCSG Transfer Course USG Follow- Up CourseNTCSG Transfer CourseUSG Follow Up CourseN HIST 1111HIST 11102MATH 1101MATH HIST 11121MATH HIST 21119MATH HIST MATH HIST 33041MATH 1111MATH 971 HIST 33331MATH HIST 33721MATH HIST 1112HIST 21112MATH HIST MATH HIST 44441MATH MATH HIST 2111HIST MATH HIST 11121MATH HIST 21112MATH HIST MATH HIST 33351MATH HIST 44441MATH HIST 2112HIST MATH HIST 11111MATH HIST 11221MATH HIST 21113MATH HIST 21123MATH HIST 22062STAT HIST HIST HUMN 1101ITDS ITDS 27351

Appendix Table 1: List of Transfer Courses and Corresponding Follow-Up Courses Taken by Students TCSG Transfer Course USG Follow-Up CourseNTCSG Transfer Course USG Follow Up CourseN MATH 1113MATH 11011POLS MATH POLS MATH POLS MATH 11132POLS MATH POLS MATH 21251POLS MATH 22002POLS MATH 22025POLS MATH MATH 25951PSY MATH 1127MATH 11012PSY MATH 11065PSY MATH 11073PSY MATH 11111PSY MATH 11136PSY MATH 11904PSY MATH 12611PSY MATH 20085PSY MATH 22022PSY MATH 33161PSY MATH 1131MATH MATH MATH PHYS 1111PHYS 11121

Appendix Table 1: List of Transfer Courses and Corresponding Follow-Up Courses Taken by Students TCSG Transfer Course USG Follow-Up CourseNTCSG Transfer Course USG Follow Up CourseN SOC SPC 1101COMM SOC COMM SOC COMM SOC SOC SOC SOC SOC SOC SOC SOC Courses highlighted in red are those that we compared performance in for TCSG transfer and non-transfer students.