Description/Definition: College transfer programs provide educational experiences that will
enable transfer students to make the transition to a baccalaureate program and perform as
well as the students who enroll as first-time freshmen at universities. The purpose of this
measure is to compare the performance of community college associate degree students
(Associate in Arts, Associate in Science, and Associate in Fine Arts) who transfer to public
North Carolina universities with students native to the four-year institutions.
Methodology and Data Source: Data on two cohorts of college transfer students entering the
public universities each year are analyzed. One cohort analysis compares the performance of
college transfer degree recipients (AA, AS, AFA) at the end of two semesters at the public
university to the performance of native juniors. The second cohort analysis compares the
performance of college transfer students completing at least 24 hours or more of college
transfer courses at a community college but not completing the degree to the performance of
native sophomores. A cell size of at least ten students is required for reporting this measure.
The University of North Carolina General Administration analyzes performance data on
students who transfer to a four-year public institution within two years of leaving a
community college. No data are available from the private colleges and universities in North
Carolina.
Community colleges may elect to work with private colleges and universities in collecting
data on students who transfer to those institutions. The data must be consistent with the
methodology employed by the UNC-General Administration in calculating the data for
transfers to public universities. If colleges submit data from private or out-of-state
institutions, then the System Office will include the data with the public university data.
Performance Standard: Performance of community college transfer students will be
equivalent to the performance of native UNC sophomores and juniors: 82. 9 percent of the
community college transfer students identified in the two cohorts will have a GPA greater
than or equal to 2.0 after two semesters at a UNC institution. This measure is a required
performance funding measure.
Results: Data reported are for students who left a community college in 1998-99. The
reason for this time lag in the data is that students are allowed up to two years to transfer to
be included in the cohort and performance data is based on two semesters of attendance at a
UNC institution once the students have transferred. Data on both associate degree recipients
and the students who transferred to UNC institutions with 24 or more semester hours at
community colleges were reported.
For students who completed an AA, AS or AFA degree in 1998-99 and transferred to a UNC
institution within two years, 85.8 percent had a GPA equal to or greater than 2.0 after two
semesters at a public university. For those students who completed 24 or more semester
hours in community colleges and transferred to a UNC institution, 79 percent had a GPA
equal to or greater than 2.0 after two semesters at a public university. When the data for both
groups are combined, 80.6 percent of the transfers had a GPA equal to or greater than 2.0
after two semesters at a UNC institution. Seventeen (17) community colleges met the 82.9
percent performance standard, with 24 additional colleges showing significant improvement
over last year's performance.