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!