Many students who begin their post-high school journey at a community college intend to eventually get a bachelor’s degree. Research shows, however, that only around 15 percent do so within six years. The reasons vary, including a perpetually leaky transfer process where some 43 percent of credits are lost between schools.
Black, Latinx and/or Hispanic, Indigenous, and Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) students, students from low-income backgrounds, and women are particularly affected. They are also more likely to start at two-year institutions and less likely to wind up finishing a four-year program.
This report from the Institute for Higher Education Policy and HCM Strategists offers lessons learned from pilot initiative launched in 2021 involving partnerships across three states at 24 institutions to address transfer challenges. Participating institutions sought to ensure that community college students could complete a bachelor’s degree in a timely manner by clearly communicating and supporting them through a mapped pathway, guaranteeing that all credits apply to completion, providing clear costs, and streamlining time to degree.