A Concurrent Transformative Examination Of The Experiences Of Transfer Students

Abstract

Increasingly, college students are transferring between schools in an effort to achieve their higher education goals. However, many transfer students find themselves significant challenges navigate the transfer process and longer paths to graduation as a direct result of transferring. This concurrent transformative study sought to better understand the ways in which a student’s first higher education institution influenced the student’s perception of the process of transferring between colleges and universities. The study used a modified version of the College Student Experience Questionnaire guided by Tinto’s theories of student departure and engagement as a theoretical framework to measure student effort based on 7 quality of engagement scales. These results were analyzed using factorial analysis of variance (ANOVAS). Data was analyzed from 112 participants, and the results were reported based on the student’s first higher education institution, the case sites utilized in the study, and the students perception of the transfer process as positive or negative. The results of this study indicated that the majority of students are satisfied with the transfer process. Data analysis also revealed there are disparities in the types of resources students are using based on their pre-transfer institutions. Finally, analysis revealed no statistical significance or effect based on quality of engagement scales.