Associated Press reporter Justin Pope wrote a story that was published across the nation yesterday, including here in the Washington Post, about a new book that examines why more people who begin college don’t finish it.

In ‘Crossing the Finish Line,’ William Bowen and Michael McPherson, former presidents of Princeton University and Macalester College, along with researcher Matthew Chingos, chime in on what many experts consider American higher education’s greatest weakness: college completion rates. By some measures, fewer than six in 10 entering college students complete a bachelor’s degree, among the worst rates in the developed world.

Student success is a big topic in higher education today, and I appreciate the story.

However, one of the book’s conclusions reported in the Pope story is just flat-out wrong:

Students starting at two-year schools aren’t as likely to complete a bachelor’s degree as comparably prepared students who start at four-year schools. Those findings cast some doubt on the wisdom of programs in several states, such as New Jersey and Virginia, encouraging students to start at two-year colleges, then transfer.

At Virginia’s Community Colleges, we are finding that our transfer students go on to finish their four-year degree at at least the same rate as students who spend all four years at a university.  In fact, we are finding that the better they do at our community colleges, the better they do after they transfer.

Students with an Associate degree are more successful upon transfer.  In a 2009 Working Paper on transfer, the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) states that national transfer research establishes a clear link between earning an associate degree and baccalaureate completion.  Further, SCHEV states that in Virginia, 68% of students transferring with the associate degree completed the baccalaureate within four years compared to 56% of those transferring without the degree.

*Note: That 68% figure is higher than the “six in ten” American graduation figure that Pope cited above.

Students enter community colleges with differing intents.  Some are on a path to pursue a bachelor’s degree; others are seek an applied degree to enter the workforce upon its completion. Recognizing varied student intent, the VCCS now captures student intent as part of application process so that students can be more effectively advised to meet academic goals.

In Virginia’s Community Colleges two out of three students are part-time. Part-time students may not enroll continuously, but instead stop out for a variety of reasons and reenter later. These students require an extended time frame than the traditional window for measuring graduation

To serve those students (and really, all Virginia students), we have launched a new interactive tool called the Virginia Education Wizard that provides extensive information on going to college, transferring, financial assistance and scholarships, and much more. 

A recent study of 2008 bachelor’s degree recipients from Virginia’s public and private institutions recipients showed that over one-third (36%) had Virginia community college experience.  (The study was conducted by the VCCS in partnership with the National Student Clearinghouse)

Virginia has built a transfer infrastructure whose benefits key off of completion of the associate degree. This includes more than 25 guaranteed admission agreements and financial incentives for students and families through the Virginia Two-Year College Transfer Grant.

As a result of these unique and enhanced transfer opportunities, we have evidenced increases in transfer enrollments, associate degree graduates, and the number of transfer students completing the associate degree before transferring. 

• Fall enrollments in VCCS transfer programs have increased by 30%  in 2008.
• Transfer associate degree graduates in the VCCS increased in 2007-08 by 42%.

In a 2009 Working Paper on transfer, the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) reports that from 2002-03 to 2005-06, one in four students transferred with the associate degree.  In 2008, one in three transfer with the degree.

So, while it is true that student success is a challenge throughout America’s institutions of higher educations, let’s immediately put to rest the unfortunate myth that those who begin their pursuit of of a four-year degree at a community college are less likely to finish their degree. It’s certainly not true in Virginia.

Posted by Jeffrey Kraus