Expanding Opportunity in Higher Education: Leveraging Promise

8. The Effectiveness of the Transfer Path for Educationally Disadvantaged Students: California as a Case Study in the Development of a Dual Admissions Program

INTRODUCTION Low-income and ethnic minority students enroll in two-year and community colleges in much higher proportions than other students (see, for example, NCES, 2004). For this reason, the effectiveness of transfer policies in broadening access to higher education, particularly for students from underrepresented groups, has become increasingly important as state governments look for ways of accommodating significantly greater numbers of college-age students . Especially important is assessing the effectiveness of transfer policies 193 STEPHEN J. HANDEL MARGARET HEISEL BARBARA A. HOBLITZELL Chapter Eight The Effectiveness of the Transfer Path for Educationally Disadvantaged Students: California as a Case Study in the Development of a Dual Admissions Program among public two-year community colleges and highly selective colleges and universities. Community colleges have long served as an important point of higher education access for underrepresented ethnic minority students and other disenfranchised groups (e.g., students with disabilities, immigrant students , students living in rural regions, students from low-income families), especially given the low cost, geographic convenience, and open access of these institutions (Dougherty, 1994, 2002; Miller, 1995). Highly selective colleges and universities serve as a critical training ground for preparing individuals for leadership positions and the professional ranks within American society (Bowen & Bok, 1998). Despite the importance of this educational pathway, a low percentage of community college students successfully transfer and earn a baccalaureate degree. The initiative described here links community colleges and selective four-year institutions using a statewide dual admissions program, with a stated goal of increasing student access to the baccalaureate degree. The lessons learned in developing this model in California have implications for the rest of the nation. TRANSFER POLICY IN CALIFORNIA The policy structure for California higher education, the 1960 California Master Plan for Higher Education (California State Department of Education, 1960), establishes transfer from California community colleges to the University of California (UC) and the California State University (CSU) as a central element in the state’s educational system. Originating in an era of rapid growth in the number of students, California’s higher education policy was intended to provide access, economy, efficiency, and quality in the state’s higher educational programs. Cost savings to the state were intended to be achieved through segmental division of responsibility and function. With enactment of the Master Plan, UC and CSU tightened their standards for freshman admission and California’s community colleges agreed to take responsibility for accepting a significantly greater number of the students in lower division programs with the expectation that these students could complete baccalaureate degrees at UC or CSU. A critical feature of the Master Plan was its commitment to access; that promise was to be achieved, in large part, through transfer. Implementing this notion, UC and CSU are required to maintain an upper-to-lower division ratio of 60/40 to assure that there are spaces available for all eligible transfer students . UC has generally not exceeded 60 percent at the upper division level because of the high degree of demand for freshman admission. Nonetheless, eligible California community college transfer students are, by statewide policy , to be given priority in the admission process over other categories of freshman and transfer students. 194 Stephen J. Handel, Margaret Heisel, and Barbara A. Hoblitzell During the 1980s, the number of transfer students admitted into UC did not keep pace with growth at the freshman and sophomore levels. Thus, lower division enrollment at UC exceeded the 40 percent level. A review of the Master Plan at that time focused strongly on the community college and on transfer programs. Legislation was enacted in 1989 that placed provisions in the California Donahue Act (the legislation authorizing the Master Plan) calling for UC, CSU, and the California community colleges to make transfer a central institutional priority.1 UC and CSU were called upon to develop transfer agreement programs that specified the curricular requirements and level of achievement to be attained in order for community college students to be guaranteed a transfer space at particular campuses and in particular majors. The Master Plan also addressed the issue of access by committing to the principle of tuition-free education to residents of the state. In recent years, that principle has been seriously eroded as the state has reduced budgets in higher education to the point that student fees must be used for instructional costs. Fees at California community colleges, however, have remained the lowest in the nation among all community...