1. Student Educational Pathways:  New research on student mobility and success
AACRAO Transfer Conference
July, 2013
Afet Dundar, PhD
Associate Director
National Student Clearinghouse Research Center

2. Results from Third Signature Report: Reverse Transfer
Results from Fourth Signature report: Completing College
Implications

3. Reverse Transfer:
A National View of Student Mobility from Four-Year to Two-Year Institutions

4. Analysis Students who began in four-year institutions in Fall 2005
Tracked students over six years
Identified reverse transfer or mobility as enrolling in a two-year institution in non-summer months and prior to first degree completion
Enrollment in two-year institutions in summer terms tracked separately
Timing of transfer or mobility
Completion rates by enrollment pathway

5. 1.2 million students began in four-year institutions in Fall 2005
Subsequent enrollment in two-year institutions N %
Reverse Transfer (Regular Term)
178,846
14.4%
Summer Session Course Takers
67,231
5.4%

6. Subsequent Enrollment Outcomes
28%
17%

9. Six-Year Outcomes for All Reverse Transfer Students4

12. Key Takeaways: Reverse Transfer
14% enrolled in two-year institutions in regular terms:
17% returned to institution of origin including
31% of single-term students
11% of multiple-term students
More than a quarter returned to a different 4-year
More than half did not return to four-year sector
5.4% enrolled in two-year institutions in summer terms only

13. A National View of Student Attainment Rates
Completing College:
A National View of Student Attainment Rates

14. Study Cohort and Outcome Definitions
Started with entering cohort of fall 2006
1.9 million unique students in all types of institutions (two-year and four-year, public and private)
Counted all completions (any degree or certificate) within 6 years (through May, 2012), regardless of the student pathway
Counted all students:
Full-time
Part-time
Mixed enrollment (enrolled both full time and part time)
Results reported by traditional-age students (age 24 or younger) and adult learners (age over 24)
11/22/2018

15. Cohort Distribution by Age and Enrollment Intensity 1
Cohort Distribution by Age and Enrollment Intensity 1.9 million students who entered college in Fall 2006
11/22/2018

16. National Completion Rate of 54% in 6 years
12% of the first-time students graduated at a different institution from where they started
11/22/2018

17. Six-Year Outcomes by Starting Institution
11/22/2018

18. 11/22/2018

19. 22% of Completions Are Not Captured by the Starting Institution’s Grad Rate
More than one in five students who completed a degree did so at an institution other than where they started – students whose successful outcomes are invisible to traditional graduation rate calculations
24% for traditional-age students
34% for those who started at public two-year institutions

20. Completion Rate by Enrollment Intensity
11/22/2018

21. Completion Rate by Age at First Entry
11/22/2018

22. Six-Year Progress by Age and Enrollment Intensity
11/22/2018

23. Out-of-State Completions
3.5 percent received a degree in a state different from where they started. Thus, out-of-state completions represent about percent of all completions.

24. Four-Year Completions for Two-Year Starters
11/22/2018

25. Implications
Students, institutions and government policymakers need information about all pathways to student success and not just the traditional.
Outcome measures that follow the student to
capture the complex enrollment behaviors of today’s students.
prevent misclassifying as non-persisters those students who persist or graduate beyond the starting institution.
credit institutions for serving the needs of students who transfer or enroll part time.
11/22/2018

26. Implications
Policies that support student persistence to graduation anywhere in the postsecondary education system are needed.
Policy incentives for successful outcomes (for students or for institutions) should embrace all pathways to success, including pathways taken by
part-time and mixed enrollment students
adult learners
transfer students
11/22/2018

27. Accountability
More than one fifth of all students who complete a degree do so at an institution beyond the starting institution.
Yet, accountability pressure continues to focus on the single-institution pathway.
Can we tell a better story about how institutions contribute to student success along multiple pathways?

28. Changing Institutional Practice
Each institution, and the system as a whole, serves students better when they understand the whole student pathway.
What institutions do the students arrive from?
What institutions do they leave for?
How do they compare to trends for similar institutions?
Are institutions equipped with information to devise and implement policies that lead to more successful students?
Are students informed of multiple pathways to success?

29. Research Center Reports: http://research.studentclearinghouse.org/
Thank You
Research Center Reports:
Afet Dundar: