The Aspen Institute College Excellence Program and Columbia University’s Community College Research Center will be collaborating to produce two publications in support of ultimately improving transfer student outcomes, particularly for students of color and low-income students.
John Fink
The two organizations – supported by the Belk Center, ECMC Foundation, College Futures Foundation, and the Kresge Foundation – will first examine and use student data from the National Student Clearinghouse to create “Tracking Transfer 2.0,” a report illustrating transfer student outcomes such as transfer rates, associate’s completion rates, bachelor’s completion rates.
And for this updated 2022 report, those working on it will have access to data regarding student race/ethnicity, information not available for the report’s previous 2016 edition, said John Fink, senior research associate and program lead at the CCRC. This will allow researchers to investigate which transfer programs have been proving most effective for students of color.
“Not only will we be able to put out the state-by-state reporting showing the need for improvement, but we'll also use that same data to identify the top performing community college - university pairs across the country that are really serving well Black, Hispanic, and low-income transfer students," Fink said.
Once that report is produced, the team will then work towards creating “Transfer Playbook 2.0,” a revamped version of a publication meant to inform readers of best practices surrounding transfer students for two- and four-year institutions.
“The original Transfer Playbook was really a catalyst for the work at the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program and at CCRC to engage fieldwide leaders on transfer, in concrete strategies and practice reform to improve outcomes for transfer students,” said Dr. Tania LaViolet, director of the bachelor’s attainment portfolio for the College Excellence Program. “What we didn't have at the time was the data to understand what strategies and practices could specifically improve outcomes for students of color. And so, the Transfer Playbook 2.0 really aims to provide that kind of guidance and roadmap for any community college and university transfer partnership to advance stronger and more equitable outcomes."
Dr. Tania LaViolet
