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Transfer Shock: Is It Alive and
Well?
Dr. Eric GummAbilene 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 140-160
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%
30-59 Hours
42% 48%
60-89 Hours
65% 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%
2.0-2.49 55% 46% 47%
2.5-2.99 65% 51% 43%
3.0-3.49 38% 59% 68%
3.5-4.0 46% 55% 59%
GPA Trends
2.6
2.7
2.8
2.9
3
3.1
3.2
TransferGPA
2ndSemGPA
4th SemGPA
2007 Transfers2008 Transfers2009 Transfers
GPA Recovery
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Conti
nuin
gShock
Did
n't
Retu
rn
GPA
Reco
vere
d
2007 Transfers 2008 Transfers
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!