Positive Academic and Labor Market Consequences of Four- to Two-Year College Transfer

Do Students Benefit from Going Backward? The Academic and Labor Market Consequences of Four- to Two-Year College Transfer. By Vivienne Yuen Ting Liu. Center for Analysis of Postsecondary Education and Employment, Columbia University. 

http://capseecenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/capsee-do-students-benefit-from-going-backward.pdf

 

“About 16% of students who begin in a four-year college transfer to a two-year college within six years … this paper examines the effects of 4–2 transfer on ‘struggling’ students, those who earned less than a 3.0 grade point average in the first term. Results indicate that these 4–2 transfer students are more likely than similar non-transfer students to attain two-year college credentials (including associate degrees and long- and short-term certificates); the gain is concentrated in women who tend to enroll in health-related programs. What is more, struggling students who transfer to two-year colleges are no less likely than struggling non-transfer students to earn a bachelor’s degree.… The findings indicate that 4–2 transfer can improve college completion for students struggling in four-year institutions.”