Choosing a School

While some community college students focus on a two-year vocational program to launch their careers, others look ahead to additional education to make their desired career path a reality. Many community colleges nationwide are teaming up with four-year universities to streamline the transfer process to make the second path more efficient. While this pattern has been gaining steam, new community colleges are joining the ranks this year to offer even more options to community college graduates. We’ll look at some of the latest community college transfer programs launching nationwide.

The Big Transfer Push in California

One of the biggest transfer programs to make headlines this year is in California. Currently, the state has 112 community colleges. Of that number, more than half have developed an associate degree program designed for transfer to CSU schools. According to a report in the Sacramento Business Journal, the plan's goal is to provide guaranteed associate degrees for transfer at every community college in the state. Chancellor of California Community Colleges, Jack Scott, said that the new program is still in the early stages and that much more is planned. Students currently enrolled in participating community colleges, and have taken 60 credit hours in an approved associate degree program, will be able to transfer to a CSU school with a similar major and junior standing.

According to California Community Colleges, the transfer program will save the system $160 million yearly when it is fully up and running since it

While community colleges offer a wealth of options in associate degree programs and practical career training, the majority of students that grace a community college campus for a period of time are not content with a degree from these schools. In fact, the large majority of community college students have plans to further their education by eventually transferring their credits to a four-year institution. This is the precise subject of the latest report by the College Board that looked at the high number of community college students that want to transfer to a four-year university and why.

About the Report

College Board is a non-profit organization committed to equality in education, from the early primary years all the way through postsecondary education. This particular report, titled, “Improving Student Transfer from Community Colleges to Four-Year Institutions,” was designed to emphasize the importance of smooth pathways between community colleges and other institutions of higher education. The College Board website estimates that more than 7 million students enrolled in community colleges – up to 41 percent of all college students across the country - at any given time. With so many students enrolled in community colleges, it is important to assess what the choices for these students might be should they decide to continue to pursue their education after their initial degree program is completed.

This video shows college leaders discussing improvements to the transfer process.

Why More Students are Choosing Community Colleges over Traditional Four-Year Schools

In the past, four-year universities always seemed to carry more prestige and practical professional preparation than their two-year counterparts. However, as prices for universities continue to rise and community colleges expand their fields of study and improve their quality, higher education appears to be changing. Today, community college enrollment is increasing exponentially at schools across the country, while four-year institutions have seen a small drop in student population within the past year. We’ll take a look at the numbers and explore some of the reasons why more students might be choosing to go to community college today.

Changing Times or One-Time Blip?

According to a recent story in the Courier-News, national college enrollment figures dropped last year by about two percentage points. While a single-year statistic is nothing to write home about, many financial experts see this downturn as the beginning of a trend – the burst of the bubble on higher education. Some attribute the lower enrollment to fewer jobs and higher tuition rates that make parents and students alike question the real value of a bachelor’s degree today.

At the same time, enrollment numbers for many community colleges across the country continue to rise. And enrollment isn’t the only statistic that is going up. The Courier-News also reported that Waubonsee Community College in Illinois graduated its largest class in history this past spring. Elgin Community College followed suit with their

Community colleges have come to the forefront of higher education in recent years since President Obama made them one of the priorities of his administration. To help the process along, the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program recently published a list of what it calls the nation's 120 best community colleges – which is the top 10 percent of all community colleges in the country. This list comes after extensive data collecting and analysis that attempted to accommodate the broad variations within community colleges while adhering to a general standardization that accurately compares schools.

The Contest for Top Spot

Now that the top 10% college list has been completed, the Aspen Institute hopes to continue the process by choosing 10 colleges out of the original 120. From the list of 10, the organization will select a single, top-performing school to award $1 million for excellence in school performance. According to the Aspen Institute's website, the contest's purpose is to raise awareness of the value of community colleges and reward those institutions that are committed to maintaining the highest standards of excellence in their educational pursuits.

To help them achieve this goal, the Aspen Institute recently appointed a high-profile jury to select the 10 finalists for the prize. The co-chairs of the jury are former Michigan Governor John Engler and former Secretary of Education Richard Riley. Second Lady Dr. Jill Biden and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan attended the announcement event. The Aspen prize had previously

Students enter community college with plans to eventually transfer to a four-year university for a number of reasons. The student may have limited funds and will try to save money by getting lower division courses out of the way at community college, before heading to a university to complete major requirements. Some students may not have a high enough GPA at graduation to move directly into the university of their choice, so they take the first year or two of classes at community college until their GPA is high enough for a successful transfer.

No matter what your reason for transferring from community college, success in your academic endeavors is surely your ultimate goal. This article will explore the success rate of community college students that transfer to a four-year institution, as well as some of the factors that help determine performance after transferring.

What is Transfer Shock?

One concern for community college students transferring to four-year institutions is something commonly referred to as "transfer shock" in higher education circles. According to a report at the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) website, transfer shock refers to the dip in grade point average that is experienced during the first or second semester at a new school. Transfer shock is a concern for educators as well as students, and it may impact the number of transfer students a university may be willing to accept in any given year.

Transfer shock is a very real phenomenon that affects