This study focused on degree-seeking baccalaureate-degree holders at one two-year technical institute in the Midsouth to determine why they chose to study at the two-year college and how they compared their two-year college experience with their baccalaureate educational experience. Findings indicated the technical college was their first choice…

Examines the factors influencing the choice process and institutional/educational satisfaction of baccalaureate degree holders in two-year college degree programs. Constructs demographic profile of these students, ascertains reasons for attending two-year college, and determines factors contributing to satisfaction. States that 62% of students…

One of the original missions of the two-year college, the transfer mission was highly criticized in the latter part of the twentieth century. It is currently experiencing both challenges and opportunities due to changing enrollment demographics and governmental interest in transfer and articulation.

State-level interest in meeting workforce needs and facilitating adults' baccalaureate attainment is changing conceptions of the applied associate degree and the mission of the community college. In this article, the author draws on data from a recent study about the applied baccalaureate degree (Townsend and Bragg, 2008) to describe the growing…

Undergraduate transfer is a fact of life. At least 40 percent of students attend more than one institution on their path to a baccalaureate degree. Some students initially attend a two-year college, so transfer is to be expected if they seek a baccalaureate. Two-year college students are not the only ones who transfer. Data from the Beginning…

Examined attendance patterns of two-year college transfers to a public university, investigating how many students transferred with associate degrees. Students used two-year colleges in many ways to pursue baccalaureates, with 45 percent of students attending 3 or more colleges in pursuing the baccalaureate and 13 percent continuing to enroll at…

Argues that community college transfer mission needs to be redefined as facilitating baccalaureate degree attainment for college students in general, not just for students who begin their undergraduate education in the two-year college. Current patterns of transfer from and to the community college need to be considered. (AUTH/NB)

Looks at students who move from a four-year to a two-year college in a process called reverse transfer. Categorizes these reverse transfer students, reviews what is known about their numbers, summarizes studies that describe the students and their experiences in the two-year colleges, and discusses institutional rationales for admitting them.…

Argues that because students with vocational associate degrees are not usually expected to transfer to four-year institutions, studies examining academic performances of two-year college transfer students rarely use type of associate degree as a variable. Attempts to determine a relationship between type of associate degree and baccalaureate…

Presents findings from a study of community college faculty attitudes about their status. Respondents with prior full-time faculty experience at a four-year institution were more likely to agree than those without such experience that four-year faculty consider two-year faculty to be on the margins of higher education. Neither group considered…

This paper examines the shrinking divide between upper and lower division courses and the phenomenon of two-year colleges now being authorized to offer the community college baccalaureate. The author describes the following three educational trends: (1) the upside-down baccalaureate degree, where the order in which students take general education…

This study focused on the transfer and academic performance of applied associate degree recipients in Missouri. The author collected data on two-year college graduates who transferred to a Missouri public four-year college between fall 1996 and summer 1997 and graduated by spring 2000. The study sought to determine if there were any statistically…

The paper discusses some policy issues facing community colleges in the 21st century: remedial education, K-16 initiatives, and workforce preparation. Identifying social needs and then determining appropriate policies to address them happens within an historical and cultural context. Within our capitalistic and democratic society, four cultural or…

This article discusses community colleges as educational institutions that not only prepare students to transfer to other colleges, but also receive transfer students from other institutions as well. The article emphasizes the limited awareness of this transfer reciprocity, both on part of the general public and of policymakers. Cited are the…

This paper questions the effects of middle-class student enrollment on the historical institutional mission of community colleges--offering access to higher education to groups who might otherwise not be able to attend college. Because higher education is viewed as a public good that also contributes to individual socioeconomic mobility, the…