Community college experts team up to develop a guide to help colleges and universities build success transfer pathways and increase bachelor’s completion.

Inside Higher Ed reports.

New guide seeks to help colleges guide and maintain transfers

Researchers have known for a while now that most community college students want to earn a bachelor’s degree, but few go on to do so.

Only 14 percent of students who first enroll at a community college transfer and eventually earn a four-year degree within a six-year period. It’s that fact that has led researchers from the Community College Research Center at Columbia University’s Teachers College and the Aspen Institute’s College Excellence Program to create a detailed guide to helping two- and four-year colleges improve bachelor’s degree outcomes for transfer students.

“This issue is gaining traction now and for good reason. We’ve got to start thinking about why students come to school and caring even more about outcomes, and we need to move that conversation beyond the time when students are at the community college,” said Josh Wyner, executive director of the Aspen Institute’s College Excellence Program, and a co-author on the guidebook. “By gathering data, we can help colleges understand that community college transfer is an asset and it’s an asset that’s underutilized.”