This chapter presents findings from two recent Pell Institute studies, which explored the characteristics and experiences of low-income, first-generation community college transfer students in Texas and two-year and four-year institutional approaches to facilitating transfer student degree completion. Specifically, the first study asked the…

This chapter addresses critical issues related to the transfer success of women and underrepresented minorities (URMs) in STEM disciplines and will highlight implications for fostering a successful transfer experience for these populations. For the purposes of this chapter, URMs is defined by the National Science Foundation to include African…

This chapter addresses transfer from a community college to a four-year institution, an important pathway for students seeking the bachelor's degree, especially students from underserved groups. The transfer pathway will be an increasingly important source of bachelor's degree holders as colleges and universities strive to meet President…

Student transfer is affected by several factors, some of them student-specific and some of them defined by institutional, system, and state policies and practices. This chapter provides a brief description of articulation agreements and policies intended to facilitate transfer; examples of institutional partnership, system-level, and statewide…

Student movement between institutions can no longer be deemed atypical. Approximately one-third of all students transfer during their college career and of those who transfer, 25% will transfer more than once. While movement from two-year to four-year institutions is still the most prevalent transfer pathway, it is important to note that 43% of…

This chapter provides an analysis of a set of conditions that transfer students will most likely face in their transition to a new institution. The specific focus is on transfer from two-year to four-year institutions. This chapter will identify many of the common challenges transfer students face simply because they are entering a new learning…

This chapter reviews a four-year university's role in developing and implementing a transfer-receptive culture. In particular, it focuses on the first element of a transfer-receptive culture by highlighting a series of visits by the chancellor of the University of California, Los Angeles, to community colleges within California. Strengthening…

This chapter offers a set of recommendations for two-year and four-year institutions related to the evaluation and implementation of transfer policy and practice. These recommendations were drawn from a major study to investigate the perspectives of students, staff, and administrators.

Dual enrollment is viewed by many as part of a promising college preparation strategy for a broad range of students. But as participation in dual enrollment has expanded across the country, there has been increasing attention paid to the rigor and authenticity of dual enrollment courses, particularly for those courses held on high school campuses…

When Kansas changed the admission requirements for resident high school students to attend one of the six public institutions in the state, Pittsburg State University (PSU) and Fort Scott Community College (FSCC) saw an opportunity. Although cooperative programs between four-year and two-year institutions in Kansas had been rare because of…

The two-year community college is a hundred-year-old phenomenon, locally funded and distinctly American, yet increasingly exportable. Serving ever more varied roles while being challenged economically, legislatively, and academically to meet progressively higher expectations in the United States, the American community college has been discovered…

People do not want to know the history, minutiae of policy, or operations, or even the political intrigues of a virtual consortium. People want to know if the consortium has value, whether it can help them, and if it is a threat. In this article, the author focuses on the operating principles and policies that have proven successful in the…

Institutions of higher education have been gradually employing more part-time faculty over the past several decades. Walsh estimates that part-time faculty employment across all types of institutions increased 79 percent from 1981 to 1999. The growth of part-time faculty at community colleges is equally astounding. It is now estimated that 67…

This article discusses the demographic profile, employment motivations, and changing roles of virtual faculty who hold part-time appointments. These insights are drawn from a 2006-2007 survey of forty-two part-time faculty working for virtual universities under the purview of the Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities for the…

The chancellor of a state's community college system works with the college presidents to establish accountability for a common set of goals.