1. Facilitating Seamless Transitions advocacy.collegeboard.org Connecting Education Policy with Experience

2. A trusted resource for information, data, education policy analysis and research and is instrumental in helping to increase college preparation, access and success. Special focus on underserved populations, especially low-income students, students of color, and first- generation college students. First-rate policy research capability and robust advocacy agenda to drive change in policy and practices that support college success 1

3. Excelencia in Education aims to accelerate higher education success for Latino students by providing data-driven analysis of the educational status of Latino students and by promoting education policies and institutional practices that support their academic achievement. 2

4. The College Completion Agenda 3 Goal: Increase the proportion of young Americans earning a postsecondary degree or credential to 55 percent by 2025 Tools State Policy Guide Progress Report Purpose: To provide reliable, measurable information that tracks our collective progress, as well as policymaking strategies each state can use to help reach our destination

5. 10 Recommendations 1.Voluntary Preschool Education Available To Low-Income Families 2.Improve Middle School and High School Counseling 3.Implement the Best-Research Based Dropout Prevention Programs 4.Align K-12 System With International Standards And College Admissions 5.Improve Teacher Quality and Focus on Recruitment And Retention 6.Clarify and Simplify the Admissions Process 7.Need-Based Grant Aid; Simplifying the Financial Aid 8.Keep College Affordable 9.Dramatically Increase College Retention Rates 10.Postsecondary Opportunities as Essential Element of Adult Education 4 Working toward the goal of 55 percent by 202 5

6. The College Completion Agenda 5 Without properly consulting with the institutions that award the baccalaureate degree, the transfer process can never function in a way that supports the nations need for an educated citizenry in particular, a citizenry that authentically represents the diversity of this nation.

7. Current Landscape advocacy.collegeboard.org Connecting Education Policy with Experience

8. 55% by 2025 7

9. High School Graduation Rate 8

10. AP Examination Students 9

11. College Remediation Rate 10

12. Immediate Enrollment Rate 11

13. Graduation Rates (2-Year Institutions) 12

14. Graduation Rates (4-Year Institutions) 13 Connecting Education Policy with Experience June 8, 2011

15. Community Colleges: Fast Facts advocacy.collegeboard.org Connecting Education Policy with Experience

16. Community Colleges 15 Community colleges are the largest postsecondary education segment and its share of the undergraduate population is likely to increase. Community college students want to transfer: Surveys indicate that at least 50 percent and perhaps as many as 80 percent of all incoming community college students seek to transfer and earn a bachelors degree. Community colleges attract students from underserved groups in greater numbers than four-year colleges and universities. Community colleges cost less to attend than four-year institutions.

17. Student Demographics (2007-2008) Average age: 28 Median age: 23 21 or younger: 39% 22–39: 45% 40 or older: 15% First generation to attend college: 42% Single parents: 13% Non-U.S. citizens: 6% Veterans: 3% Students with disabilities: 12% NCES. (2009). 2007–08 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:08) [AACC analysis]

18. Student Demographics (fall 2008) Women: 58% Men: 42% Minorities: 45% Black: 13% Hispanic: 16% Asian/Pacific Islander: 6% Native American: 1% NCES. (2008). IPEDS Fall Enrollment Survey. [AACC analysis]

19. Community College Students as % of Undergraduates (fall 2008) All U.S. undergraduates: 44% First-time freshmen: 43% Native American: 55% Asian/Pacific Islander: 45% Black: 44% Hispanic: 52% NCE. (2008). IPEDS Fall Enrollment Survey. [AACC analysis]

20. Employment Status (2007–2008) Full-time students – employed full time: 21% –employed part time: 59% Part-time students –employed full time: 40% –employed part time: 47% NCES. (2009). 2007–08 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:08) [AACC analysis]

21. Average Annual Tuition and Fees (2010–2011) Community colleges (public, in district): $2,713 4-year colleges (public, in state): $7,605 College Board. (2010). Trends in College Pricing: 2010

22. Transfer Rate Annual transfer rate: 22 percent When transfer rates are included in graduation rate analyses, community colleges have completion rate of 40% NCES. (2008). IPEDS Fall Enrollment Survey. [AACC analysis] & Mullin, C. M. (2010, November). Just how similar? Community colleges and the for-profit sector (Policy Brief 2010-04PBL). Washington, DC: American Association of Community Colleges.

23. Group Activity #1 advocacy.collegeboard.org Connecting Education Policy with Experience

24. Group Activity #1 23 1.Do you know your feeder high schools/institutions? 2.What does your institution currently do to facilitate the transfer process for community college students? 3.What percentages of students currently transfer to/or from your institution? 4.What top 3 issues limit the ability of community college students to transfer to/ or from your institution?

25. Group Activity #2 advocacy.collegeboard.org Connecting Education Policy with Experience

26. Group Activity #2 25 1.What is the environment/leadership for establishing partnerships or seamless transfer pathways at your institution? 2.Using the top 3 issues identified, how would you mitigate these issues to allow more students to transfer? 3.What resources would be needed to implement this program?

27. Group Activity #3 advocacy.collegeboard.org Connecting Education Policy with Experience

28. Group Activity #2 27 1.How do you know if your transfer efforts are effective? 2.What measures would you use? 3.Are your transfer efforts replicable and/or scalable?

29. Improving Student Transfers from High School to Community Colleges advocacy.collegeboard.org Connecting Education Policy with Experience

30. Community College Strategies for Transfer Success 29 Link Curricula to High School: Community colleges should link their curricula more closely to those of local high schools. One of the best ways community colleges can encourage greater student effort in high school is to show how courses required in high school develop skills for college-level work. Communicate Success: Community colleges should do a more effective job of communicating the success of their graduates. Community colleges have not been especially effective in communicating this to high school students. Offer Check-Ups: Community colleges should offer academic check-ups to high school students. Help Counselors Counsel: The introduction of diagnostic academic data will strengthen the role of high school counselors.

31. Improving Student Transfers from Community Colleges to Four-Year Institutions: Community Colleges advocacy.collegeboard.org Connecting Education Policy with Experience

32. Community College Strategies for Transfer Success 31 Establish transfer to a four-year institution as a high institutional priority. Ensure that transfer is perceived by students as expected and attainable. Offer a rigorous curriculum for all students that includes writing, critical thinking, mathematics, and the sciences. Provide high quality instruction, including innovative and research-based pedagogies. Coordinate collaboration between faculty at community college and the university at the discipline level to facilitate the student pathway. Provide accurate and appropriate information to students on transfer opportunities, support, and resources.

33. Community College Strategies for Transfer Success 32 Develop intensive academic support programs based on models of academic excellence (e.g., academic counseling, peer tutoring, and reciprocal learning techniques). Create an environment of belonging in which students feel stimulated to achieve at high academic levels. Establish strong community and family linkages that foster intellectual stimulating, secure, and culturally rich environments for students on and off campus. Engage students no later than the first term at a community college to develop an academic plan of action for successful transfer.

34. Community College Strategies for Transfer Success 33 Reinforce on-going commitment of faculty from two-year and four-year institutions working in partnership to identify the essential academic preparation needed to help students make the transition from a community college to a four-year institution. Invest institutional resources for counselors and other student support personnel at two-year and four-year institutions. They are the critical gatekeepers of information about transfer.

35. Improving Student Transfers from Community Colleges to Four-Year Institutions: Four-Year Institutions advocacy.collegeboard.org Connecting Education Policy with Experience

36. Leadership & Commitment Four-year institutions enrollment and education of transfer students should be a part of the campus mission and should be supported at the highest levels of administrative and faculty leadership. Develop a strategic, as opposed to a tactical, enrollment plan, one that is mission driven and sees the recruitment and enrollment of transfer students as a long-term commitment. Engage a broad consensus of senior leaders in academic affairs, enrollment management, outreach, student affairs and financial aid in the commitment to serve transfer students. Understand the challenges and obligations that follow from a decision to bring transfer students to a campus, which may require an institution to evaluate all aspects of its operations, including recruitment, admission and student and academic affairs. Strategies for Success

37. Outreach and Preparation Four-year institutions should provide transfer students with the guidance they will need to prepare for and apply to their four-year institution. Calibrate an outreach message that is purposeful, concise and clear and that focuses on academic preparation Develop productive and sustainable relationships with community colleges locally; expand as resources and commitment allow. Establish a presence on the community college campus that will help guide prospective transfer applicants in selecting courses that will prepare them for the transition to the four-year institution. Support community college counselors by keeping them up- to-date on programs and services at the four-year institution. Train recruitment staff in ways that will help them serve transfer students effectively, especially since transfer students usually present a more complex academic profile than freshman students. Strategies for Success

38. Admission and Enrollment Four-year institutions should enroll academically prepared students who are able to pursue their major immediately after transfer. Create transparent transfer credit policies so that students know how to prepare for transfer while attending the community college. Complete a credit evaluation for all transfer students before they enroll at the four-year institution. Involve faculty in the admission process so that they are actively engaged reading applications, assessing student preparation and consulting with admission staff. Identify transfer student enrollment targets that are separate from freshman targets.. Grant community college applicants preference in the admission process over transfer applicants from four-year colleges and universities. Strategies for Success

39. Financial Aid Four-year institutions should provide sufficient aid to transfer students so that they may engage fully in the campus community. Use Federal Work-Study Program funds for transfer students since many of these students prefer to work while in college. Holding a work- study job is more likely to keep transfer students close to campus, which helps them connect to the campus community more easily. Create partnerships with community colleges that help students attend school full time and to receive full financial aid. Fund scholarships specifically for transfer students. Help students face their financial aid future by developing information, resources and incentives that span the transfer students transition from a community college to a four-year institution. Strategies for Success

40. Student and Academic Affairs Four-year institutions should create a welcoming environment for transfer students by addressing their unique transitional issues, while working to engage them fully in the intellectual life of the campus. Dismiss the assumption that transfer students require less attention or service than first-time students because they have already been to college. Do not assume that just because a transfer student does not want something (e.g., orientation), that he or she does not need it. Monitor and assess the transfer student experience as you would the first-year student experience. Offer an orientation program for transfer students that addresses their unique needs and concerns. Create a campus home for transfer students by establishing a campus transfer center that allows students to meet others like themselves, obtain access to sustained advising and prepare for the transition to the larger campus community. Offer special transition courses for transfer students. Reserve housing for transfer students on or near campus to shorten (or eliminate) their commute, providing them with time to fully engage the campus community. Strategies for Success

41. Examples of Excelencia and Growing What Works Database advocacy.collegeboard.org Connecting Education Policy with Experience

42. Resources on Facilitating Seamless Transitions advocacy.collegeboard.org Connecting Education Policy with Experience

43. Community College Strategies for Transfer Success 42 www.edexcelencia.org advocacy.collegeboard.org www.aacc.nche.edu

44. Thank You!!! advocacy.collegeboard.org Connecting Education Policy with Experience

45. Young Men of Color: I Am Change 44 Linking Research with Practice: For School Counselors Recommendations #2, #3 and #5 Journal series, DVD and web access Promote awareness of the barriers that hinder young men of color college and career aspirations. Provide school counselors and community partners with specific interventions and strategies to implement the Eight Components of College and Career Readiness Counseling. Use a collection of stories, commentaries, artwork, and essays from adult leaders and youth writers offering guidance and inspiration in working with young men of color. DRAFT http://advocacy.collegeboard.org