Transfer Shock: Is It Alive and Well? Dr. Eric Gumm Abilene Christian University NISTS 2010

Transfer Students College enrollment of high school graduates has risen over the past thirty years to greater than 40% 33% of all students will transfer at least once and 20% will transfer two or more times A growing number of students begin their collegiate studies at a community college – more than 42% at this point Studies show that more than 71% of students beginning at a community college plan to earn a bachelor’s degree, which involves transferring

What is Transfer Shock? How has it been defined? A decrease in the transfer student’s grade point average during their first semester at the new institution, in comparison to their grade point average at their previous institution.

What is Transfer Shock? Where has it been seen in the literature? Studies have indicated that students lose about 1/3 of a grade point in transferring This has been seen over time: Hill, 1965 Richardson & Doucette, 1980 Diaz, 1992 Carlan & Byxbe, 2000 Pennington, 2006

What is Transfer Shock? Why does it matter or why should you be concerned? Student Success Institutional Reputation Retention and Persistence Academic Integration

Research Question The question we wanted to address was - Is “transfer shock” a valid observation on our campus?

Who is ACU? Primarily residential, private, faith-based university Primarily regional draw, but students from 49 states and 60 nations Overall student body of approximately 4700 Average Incoming student class of 1100 Average entering transfer student cohort of

Study Samples We examined three cohorts of incoming transfer students: Fall 2007 – 133 transfer students Fall 2008 – 127 transfer students Fall 2009 – 171 transfer students Data was collected from transcript data from students

Factors Examined Previous Institution GPA First semester GPA at ACU Earned Hours Transferred to ACU

Study Results Overall Results by Cohort Results by transfer hours Results by transfer institution type Results by previous GPA

Overall Study Results 2007 Cohort 2008 Cohort 2009 Cohort Overall Negative Transfer Shock 50%52%53%52%

Study Results by Transfer Hours 2007 Cohort 2008 Cohort 2009 Cohort 0-29 Hours 50%51% Hours 42%48% Hours 65% 90+ Hours 45%100%

Study Results by Transfer Institution Type 2007 Cohort 2008 Cohort 2009 Cohort Four-Year Private 21%39% Four-Year Public 49%44% Two-Year College 59%63%

Study Results by Previous GPA 2007 Cohort 2008 Cohort 2009 Cohort <2.0 44%25%0% %46%47% %51%43% %59%68% %55%59%

GPA Trends

GPA Recovery

Implications of the Results We have much work to do still We need to put in place more intentional academic support of our transfer students Some segments performed better or worse than expected Understanding transfer students is still challenging and we need to do more research to gain insights

Observations Transfer Student Adjustment Issues Different or more challenging academic environment Culture shock Need to reestablish support networks Significant cost increases New rules, policies and expectations

Support Strategies Transfer orientation sessions Peer mentor programs Transition courses specific for transfer students One-stop centers for transfers Developmental academic advising Financial aid programs for transfers

Strategies for Success What differences exist between your campus and those that your students are transferring from? What other strategies do you have in place to assist students in avoiding “transfer shock”?

Discussion Have you conducted similar studies on your campus? What were your findings? What are your thoughts or insights?

Conclusions Is transfer shock still alive and well among transfer students?

Thank You! Thank you so much for joining us for today’s presentation!