Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate differences in the academic self-efficacy, academic integration, social integration, and persistence among community college students from a selected community college during their first semester at a four-year institution. More specifically, differences between students who participated in a first-year transfer transition program and students who did not participate in a transfer transition program were investigated. Using a quantitative cross-sectional survey research design, data regarding transfer students' academic self-efficacy and perceived cohesion beliefs were collected from a web-based survey. These data were analyzed along with students' first semester academic performance and persistence data collected from the student records database at a four-year institution following the students' first semester of enrollment.

Six research questions were examined in this study using an independent samples t-test, Mann Whitney U tests and logistic regression. Logistic regression results showed that the odds of transferring all community college course credits to the four-year institution were 3.29 times higher for transfer transition program participants. Results for the other five research questions indicated that there were not significant differences in academic self-efficacy, perceived cohesion, fall semester GPR, fall semester credits earned, and fall to spring semester persistence between transfer transition program participants and nonparticipants.

While this study yielded an important finding regarding how participation in the transfer transition program increased the likelihood of community college course credits transferring to the four-year institution, more research is needed on how to increase the success and persistence of transfer students at four-year institutions. Recommendations for policy and practice as well as future research regarding community college transfer students and the factors affecting their persistence at the four-year institution are also presented.