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The Campaign for College Opportunity report, “CHUTES OR LADDERS? Strengthening California Community College Transfer So More Students Earn the Degrees They Seek” highlights that more work is needed to support California student seeking to transition from a community college to a California four-year school. Twokin Consulting has worked with several schools to create course crosswalks and scaffolds to support students to transition from a community college to a four-year school program.
In a review of the report, Twokin Consulting saw the following highlights:
Each year, over two million students attend one of the 116 community colleges in California.
Of these students, 2.5% transferred in two years or less to a four-year school, 23% transferred in four years or less, and 40% transferred in six years or less.
Launched in 2010, the Academic Degree for Transfer was designed in California to become the preferred path by which students transfer to the state’s four-year universities. The degree made the transfer process simpler and more transparent, promising that every student who selected the ADT path and completed 60 transferable credits in the California Community Colleges would be awarded an ADT. In addition to earning a degree, the student would complete the requirements for transfer and earn guaranteed admission with junior standing to a corresponding degree program at the CSU.
In 2020, 28,439 students enrolled at a California State University (CSU) campus with an Academic Degree for Transfer. The ADT pathway is a ladder helping students finish their bachelor’s degrees in less time.
2,887 ADT pathways exist across the state’s 115 degree-granting community colleges.
Students earning ADTs graduate with 6.5 fewer excess credits than students who earned traditional associate degrees.
More than half of students who transfer to a CSU on a guaranteed ADT pathway are graduating with their bachelor’s degrees in two years.
The report highlights several challenges that Twokin Consulting has seen in supporting community college students in transitioning:
Lack of course agreements between colleges and universities.
Confusing course numbering systems
Lower-division course re-taking
Limited major options for ADT earners
An executive summary of the Campaign for College Opportunity report is avaible along with the full report.
Twokin Consulting specializes in helping supporting colleges, universities, and nonprofit organizations in brainstorming strategies and ideas for improving operations.