2016 Annual Conference

This session describes research regarding the perceptions of community college transfer students at a North Carolina university and what they believe university administrators can do to improve their experiences. This study was intended to understand the transfer student experience; however, the sample revealed the students were—overwhelmingly—adult learners.

Staff, faculty, and mid-to-upper level administrators who work with community college transfer students and are interested in improving the experiences of these students when they arrive to the four-year campus.

As community colleges become increasingly popular among higher education seekers, it is imperative that university officials have a grasp on who these students are and what they need to be successful at the four year institution. Ultimately, this need will vary from campus to campus; however, it is necessary to fully explore the transfer student population on a given campus and determine what the university, community college, and relevant stakeholders should implement to assist this population in successful matriculation. In this study, it was discovered that the transfer student sample was, primarily, adult learners who did not benefit from the methods utilized for traditional students. This insight has the potential to heavily influence—if not completely alter—the way this particular university assists their transfer student population.