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Enhancing the Community College Pathway to Engineering Careers
E
Transfer Data
The following data on transfer students has been collected (Kozeracki, 2001):
gender, race, age, socioeconomic status, major or program, and full- or part-time status (often cross-tabulated with other findings
student goals and aspirations
impact of completing general education requirements or having to take developmental courses
effects of special programs, such as honors programs, and choice of major on achievement
grades (at the two-year and four-year institution)
number of credits attempted and received
withdrawal, persistence, graduation, and transfer rates
time to degree
NATIONAL DATA
These data are available on three levels: national, state, and institutional.1 In addition, some researchers have conducted one-time studies on particular questions, using primary research collection, such as student surveys. At the national level, sources of information include the National
1
A review of data on transfer students (including an extensive reference section) can be found in Kozeracki (2001).
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Science Foundation (NSF), U.S. Department of Education National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), and Transfer Assembly Project.
For the purposes of this study, NSF data on transfers are especially relevant because they focus on science and engineering. Information from graduate students regarding their experiences in community colleges is collected in the NSF National Survey of Recent College Graduates (NSRCG). “The survey questionnaire asks graduates who have received bachelor’s or master’s degrees in science or engineering fields whether they have ever attended a community college. The data collected do not distinguish between graduates who attended community college by taking one course and those who were enrolled full time (Tsapogas, 2004).” Because the survey also includes demographic questions, the findings can be disaggregated by marital status, race/ethnicity, age, and parents’ education. In addition, some graduates were asked to give their reasons for attending community colleges. “Many S&E [science and engineering] graduates used community colleges for reasons other than to earn an associate’s degree. In the 1999 survey cycle, 1997 and 1998 S&E graduates were asked why they decided to attend a community college. This question was not asked in the 2001 survey cycle” (Tsapogas, 2004).
Other sources of national-level data sources are useful for putting transfers to context but do not focus directly on engineering. NCES, for example, conducts a variety of surveys, including multiple surveys on postsecondary education, the most relevant of which is the Beginning Postsecondary Students (BPS) Longitudinal Study. Other surveys that include questions about attendance at community colleges are the Baccalaureate and Beyond Survey; National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS), which focuses on financing a college education; National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 (NLS-72); High School and Beyond (HS&B); and the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88). Analyses of these datasets for insights into the role of community colleges revealed the findings described below.
BPS includes several questions specifically about transfers. According to the NCES Web site (2004):
[BPS] is designed specifically to collect data related to persistence in and completion of postsecondary education programs; relationships between work and education efforts; and the effect of postsecondary education on the lives of individuals. The current BPS Longitudinal Study is made up of people who first entered postsecondary education in the 1995–1996 academic year. These students were part of the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS). NPSAS includes everyone in postsecondary education, regardless of age or level of postsecondary enrollment. For BPS, students included in NPSAS who had just started their postsec-
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ondary education were interviewed two additional times throughout their education and into the work force. The last interview took place in 2001 (NCES, 2004).
A final national data source on transfer students is the Transfer Assembly Project at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Community College Studies Program (2004).
[The project] is the longest standing study focusing on statewide measures of transfers from community college to baccalaureate. Since 1989 the project has collected data on transfer rates using the following measure: The transfer rate is the percentage of all first-time community college students who complete at least 12 units at that college and who take at least one class at a public in-state university within four years of leaving the community college. Data are collected from individual institutions in a state, sometimes through the statewide agency, and are aggregated into a statewide rate, which is subsequently reaggregated into a national transfer rate. Because of confidentiality agreements, data are not published for individual institutions or for the states. Analysis of the changes in the rates, however, indicates that there are larger disparities in transfer rates between institutions in states than there are between states.
The Transfer Assembly Project assesses the transfer rate for students who enter two-year colleges with no prior college experience and complete at least 12 college credits in four years. This group is then compared to students who subsequently take one or more classes at a public in-state university in the next four years.
STATEWIDE DATA
At the state level, a number of entities, such as state higher education offices, collect data on student enrollments, including transfers, for institutions in the state (Welsh, 2002; Welsh and Kjorlien, 2001). Although many states collect some data, they have been slow to develop student-tracking databases. In addition, there are substantial differences among states in terms of the periodicity of collection and the scope of the surveys. Moreover, some of the data are not available on the web. A search of data that are available online suggested that much of the data cannot be disaggregated by gender, race and ethnicity, or field. Most important, research suggests that state higher education agencies do very little with the data they do collect (Welsh, 2002).
Some examples follow to illustrate the types of data collected by states. The California Postsecondary Education Commission collects data on full-year transfer information regarding the flow of community college stu-
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dents to four-year colleges and universities for the academic years between 1989–1990 and 2003–2004 (CPEC, 2004).
The state of Oregon has collected information since the 1995–1996 academic year on the number of students enrolled for credit at an Oregon community college one year and then at an Oregon university-system institution the next. Enrollment data are disaggregated by gender and race/ethnicity. Data are also collected on university majors declared by Oregon community college associate-degree-holders enrolled at Oregon university-system institutions the year after community college graduation; these data are aggregated by the community college degree and by university discipline. In addition, data are collected on the academic performance of undergraduate students—measured in grade point average (GPA)—enrolled at a community college in one year and at an Oregon university-system institution the next; the GPAs are compared to the GPAs of all students (Oregon University System, 2002).
INSTITUTION-SPECIFIC DATA
Individual institutions, both community colleges and four-year institutions, also collect transfer data. For example, Clark College, a two-year institution in Vancouver, Washington, released a transfer study in July 2002 based on a survey of 881 students who indicated on the registration form that they “intended to transfer” (Clark College, 2002). Students were grouped into three categories: (1) those who had just received associate’s degrees; (2) those who had received associate’s degrees and were still attending Clark; (3) and those who were no longer enrolled but were considered ready for transfer. The survey response rate was 66 percent (578 students). Of the 578 respondents, 411 (71 percent) transferred to four-year institutions (18 percent planned to transfer, 7 percent were not certain, and 4 percent would not transfer). About half of the students transferred to Washington State University. Engineering was the fourth-most common major among transfer students from Clark College.
SCOPE OF AVAILABLE DATA
Number of Students in Engineering Sciences and Engineering
We might address the question of how many students are in engineering sciences or engineering programs by looking at enrollment or the intention to major. Every year, the Higher Education Research Institute (HERI) conducts a survey of freshmen that includes a question regarding their intended majors. Of the freshmen who intend to major in S&E, the percentage that select engineering has been fairly stable, with a high of 36.3 percent in 1980 and a low of 25.8 percent in 1995; the average is about
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31 percent. In 2002, the percentage of male freshmen intending to major in engineering was 44 percent of those intending to major in S&E. For women, the percentage was 11.5, down from the percentage of women in the 1980s and early 1990s. (More men selected engineering among the S&E fields; women tended to select biological or agricultural sciences or social or behavioral sciences over engineering, although engineering beat out the remaining sciences.) By ethnicity, the data suggest that the percentage of white freshmen who select engineering is relatively stable, between 8 and 10 percent. Asian Americans were more likely to select engineering during the 1980s. Interest among blacks and Mexican American and Puerto Rican American freshmen has increased slightly (NSB, 2004).
However, the HERI survey involves students at both community colleges and four-year institutions (primarily the latter). To separate these groups, the best strategy is to use NCES data. The NCES IPEDS database includes fall enrollments from all primary providers of postsecondary education, but these are not disaggregated by discipline.
A second way to identify the number of students in engineering is in terms of degree completion, for which NSF collects data. Table E-1 shows the number of associate degrees awarded in engineering sciences. Table E-2 shows the number of bachelor’s degrees awarded in engineering.
As Table E-1 shows, the total number of associate degrees has not changed much for women since 1990; the number has declined for men. Because most associate degrees are awarded to white students, much of the decline can be explained by the decline in the number of white males who receive associate degrees. It should be stressed, however, that many students transfer prior to receiving associate degrees, so the potential number of transfer students in engineering is not evident from these data.
Table E-2 describes recent trends in the number of bachelor’s degrees awarded. Since 1990, the number awarded to women has increased; the number awarded to men has remained relatively stable. At the bachelor’s level, the number of white students receiving degrees has declined, while the number of minority students in all groups has increased. Enrollments are a less preferred measure, since they only include students who intended to major in engineering and succeeded in so doing at the end of their program. Not included are students who might have wanted to be engineers but dropped out of such programs at either the two-year or four-year institution.
Number of Transfers into Four-Year Engineering Programs
The group of students who could transfer from community colleges in engineering includes all students who are interested in pursuing this program, with or without a two-year institutional credential.2 Once again,
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TABLE E-1 Associate Degrees Awarded in Engineering, by Ethnicity and Gender, 1990–2001
Race & Ethnicity
Gender
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
2000
2001
Total of All Races & Ethnicities
Female
288
279
355
330
362
307
269
271
323
238
297
Total of All Races & Ethnicities
Male
2,114
2,231
2,360
2,195
2,466
1,978
1,779
1,617
1,784
1,492
1,494
Black, Non-Hispanic
Female
15
20
31
28
31
28
24
24
24
22
15
Black, Non-Hispanic
Male
73
106
104
173
148
120
110
107
85
101
89
American Indian or Alaskan Native
Female
2
3
2
1
2
3
2
3
5
4
3
American Indian or Alaskan Native
Male
10
18
12
7
16
19
9
22
17
13
13
Asian or Pacific Islander
Female
27
18
21
12
36
24
14
20
25
23
25
Asian or Pacific Islander
Male
124
128
164
124
148
128
132
128
141
137
105
Hispanic
Female
21
26
24
43
32
25
19
10
28
28
32
Hispanic
Male
77
127
108
110
116
136
113
102
168
150
154
White, Non-Hispanic
Female
197
190
250
231
241
210
195
198
215
142
182
White, Non-Hispanic
Male
1,573
1,677
1,836
1,655
1,892
1,448
1,307
1,165
1,223
984
1,020
SOURCE: NSF, 2005.
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TABLE E-2 Bachelor’s Degrees Awarded in Engineering, by Sex, Race/Ethnicity, and Citizenship, 1990–2002
Year
Total
Female
Male
U.S. Citizen/Permanent Resident
Temporary Resident
White
Asian/Pacific Islander
Black
Hispanic
American Indian/Alaskan Native
1990
65,967
10,130
55,837
50,099
5,989
2,173
2,473
112
5,121
1991
63,986
10,016
53,970
48,028
6,305
2,304
2,663
146
4,540
1992
63,653
9,972
53,681
47,540
6,479
2,374
2,708
163
4,389
1993
65,001
10,453
54,548
47,976
6,764
2,637
2,845
175
4,604
1994
64,946
10,800
54,146
47,136
6,881
2,769
3,045
207
4,908
1995
64,749
11,303
53,446
46,264
7,056
2,897
3,409
230
4,893
1996
65,267
11,737
53,530
45,952
7,333
3,120
3,557
263
5,042
1997
65,091
12,160
52,931
44,976
7,625
3,203
4,005
265
5,017
1998
63,271
11,797
51,474
43,623
7,131
3,144
3,939
351
5,083
1999
62,500
12,360
50,140
42,650
7,226
3,171
4,073
328
5,052
2000
63,635
13,140
50,495
43,437
7,529
3,150
4,124
347
5,048
2001
65,195
13,195
52,000
44,407
8,340
3,182
4,152
275
4,839
2002
68,648
14,102
54,546
47,149
8,669
3,358
4,298
315
4,859
NOTES: Racial/ethnic breakouts are for U.S. citizens and permanent residents only. Temporary resident includes all racial/ethnic groups.
SOURCE: Engineering Workforce Commission, Engineering and Technology Degrees, 2002 (Washington, DC, 2002), cited in NSF (2004), Table C-8.
more data are available on general transfers than on transfers specifically in engineering. At the national level, one estimate places the transfer rate of students at around 25 percent (MacNeil, 2001).
Based on the NCES Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study, we can make some general comments about transfers. For the 1989–1990 cohort of students assessed in 1994, the NCES study found, in general, that 25 percent of community college students indicated in their responses that they were working toward bachelor’s degrees, and 39 percent of these students had transferred directly to four-year institutions by 1994. Of community college students identified as prospective transfers, those who were enrolled full time in their first year of community college were about twice as likely to transfer to four-year institutions within five years. Among community college beginners who transferred to four-year insti-
2
A methodological note is important here. The transfer rate is the number of students who transfer from a two-year institution to a four-year institution divided by the number of students who could potentially transfer. There are different ways of defining both the numerator and denominator. See Bradburn and Hurst (2001).
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tutions, 65 percent transferred without degrees; in other words, only about one out of three had completed associate degrees before transferring. One out of four community college transfers had received bachelor’s degrees by 1994, while another 44 percent were still enrolled in four-year institutions, for an overall persistence rate of 70 percent. The bachelor’s degree attainment rate was much higher among the minority of community college transfers who had completed associate degrees before transferring: 43 percent had received bachelor’s degrees by 1994 compared with 17 percent of those who had transferred with no credential (McCormick and Carroll, 1997).
A second group of students who began at two-year institutions in 1995–1996, was also studied. This analysis showed that about one-quarter of students who started at community colleges said they intended to transfer to four-year institutions and complete bachelor’s degrees. About one-half of those who intended to pursue bachelor’s degrees did transfer (see Table E-3).
Adelman (1998) used the NCES Higher Educational Institution and Beyond Survey (which describes the activities of seniors and sophomores as they progress through higher educational institutions, postsecondary education, and into the workplace from 1980 through 1992) to examine the engineering pathway. The principal relevant findings are listed below:
20.1 percent of students who earned bachelor’s degrees in engineering started in community colleges.
One-third of students who reached the threshold of the baccalaureate engineering path, but who did not cross the threshold, started in community colleges.
Of the students who left engineering, 14.8 percent started at community colleges (compared with 50.2 percent who started at comprehensive institutions and 25.8 percent who started at doctoral-degree-conferring institutions).
The degree-completion rates (65.8 percent) of students who transferred from community colleges were equivalent to those of four-year-only college students (60.4 percent).
Transfer students account for one-sixth of the degrees awarded in engineering.
The NCES Baccalaureate and Beyond Survey identifies bachelor’s degree recipients for 1999–2000 by various characteristics, including first institution type and undergraduate major. Of students with bachelor’s degrees in engineering, 17.8 percent began at two-year institutions. As Table E-4
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TABLE E-3 Percentage Distribution of Students Who Began at Public Two-Year Institutions in 1995–1996
Student Characteristics
% Distribution of Beginning Students
Percentage Transferred to a Four-Year Institution
Percentage of Transfers Who Completed an Associate’s Degree First
Percentage of Transfers to Four-Year Institutions Who Persisted to a Bachelor’s Degree
Total
Persistence Status
Completed Degree
Still Enrolled in Four-Year as of June 2001
Total (all beginning students)
100
28.9
33.3
78.9
34.7
44.3
Initial degree goal in 1995–1996: Bachelor’s degree
24.8
50.8
18.8
82.3
44
38.3
Associate’s degree
48.9
26.5
50.6
78.6
29.1
49.5
SOURCE: DOED, 2003.
TABLE E-4 First-Institution Type for Students Who Received Bachelor’s Degrees in Engineering in 1999–2000
First-Institution Type
Undergraduate Major
Public Two-Year
Public Four-Year Nondoctorate Granting
Public Doctorate Granting
Private Not-for-Profit Four-Year Nondoctorate Granting
Private Not-for-Profit Doctorate Granting
Private For-Profit
Other
Engineering
17.8
8.0
50.4
6.5
16.3
0.7
0.3
SOURCE: Bradburn et al., 2003.
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shows, a two-year institution is the second-most-frequent starting point for students who received bachelor’s degrees in engineering.
Number of Students with Experience in Community Colleges
It is possible to survey students who received degrees at the bachelor’s level or higher from the top down and ask whether they had experience in community colleges. According to data collected by the NSF, community college attendance among 1999 and 2000 (total) engineering bachelor’s degree recipients was 44 percent; for master’s degree recipients, it was 29 percent (NSF, 2003). The combined percentage of engineering bachelor’s and master’s degree recipients who attended community colleges was 40 percent (Tsapogas, 2004). The number of engineering bachelor’s degree recipients who also earned associate degrees was 10 percent; the percentage for those who earned master’s degrees was 8 percent (NSF, 2003). Together, the percentage of engineering bachelor’s and master’s degree recipients who received associate degrees in engineering was 22 percent (Tsapogas, 2004).
NSF also estimated data for students who received doctorates from 1991 to 1995; 8.2 percent of doctoral recipients in engineering had attended community colleges (NSF, 1996). Tsapogas (2004) updated this information for 1996–2000 (for all S&E) and again found that 8 percent had attended community colleges.
Representative terms from entire chapter:
engineering science
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