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Early Integration and Other Outcomes for Community College Transfer Students

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore academic and social integration and other outcomes for community college transfer students. The study used Tinto’s (Leaving college: Rethinking the causes and cures of student attrition, 1993) Longitudinal Model of Institutional Departure and Deil-Amen’s (J Higher Educ, 82:54–91, 2011) concept of “socio-academic integrative moments” to inform the selection and organization of potential predictors. We developed regression models for relationships between demographic and background variables of interest and perceived academic and social integration following the first six weeks at the receiving university. We also included these perceived integration scores in regression models for six outcomes (first and second semester grade point average, first and second semester earned hours ratios, and second and third semester persistence). Academic and previous college background explained the greatest amount of variance in predicting early integration and academic outcomes.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported in part by a Scholarship of Teaching and Learning grant from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Educational Leadership, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, 28223, USA

    Mark M. D’Amico, Sandra L. Dika & Bob Algozzine

  2. Division of Student Affairs, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, USA

    Theodore W. Elling

  3. Department of Liberal Arts and General Education, Rowan-Cabarrus Community College, Salisbury, NC, USA

    Donna J. Ginn

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  1. Mark M. D’Amico
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  2. Sandra L. Dika
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Correspondence to Mark M. D’Amico.

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D’Amico, M.M., Dika, S.L., Elling, T.W. et al. Early Integration and Other Outcomes for Community College Transfer Students. Res High Educ 55, 370–399 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-013-9316-5

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