Transfer Research Reports

Research and policy perspectives on students transferring within the community and technical college system and to four-year colleges and universities.

Archived reports are available upon request. For an alternative format of this information, please contact, Summer Kenesson.

Transfer Degree and Transfer Student Research

• Integrating the transfer degree into a guided pathway (December 2018 research brief)  The purpose of Guided Pathways is to prepare students for major-ready transfer with junior standing or for employment at a livable wage. In this brief, we discuss the Associate of Arts-Direct Transfer Articulation Agreement (AA-DTA) in light of this purpose. We compare the AA-DTA degree to other major-ready transfer degrees for four-year transfer rates.  We also review the employment outcomes for AA-DTA graduates who do not transfer to outcomes for graduates with professional-technical degrees.  
• The Role of Transfer in the Attainment of Baccalaureate Degrees at Washington Public Bachelor’s Degree Institutions - Class of 2016
  The Role of Transfer study is an update to three previous studies on the graduating classes of 2001, 2006 and 2011. The report focuses exclusively on Washington’s public baccalaureate graduates including Community and Technical College applied bachelor’s degree programs.
• Associate of Science Transfer and STEM-Focused Direct Transfer Agreement — Associate of Arts, November 2014
  This study evaluates the magnitude of growth of the Associate of Science degree programs, the impact of these programs on the Direct Transfer Agreement degree with science/technology/engineering/math focus, and the impact on transfer success.  
• The Role of Transfer in the Attainment of Baccalaureate Degrees at Washington Public Bachelor's Degree Institutions, August 2013
  This report is an update of two previous studies on the graduating classes of 2001 and 2006.
• Higher Education Coordinating Board's Transfer Report, March 2011
  Key policy questions addressed in the Higher Education Coordinating Board's Transfer Report —  that follow from both the Board’s Master Plan and from Washington statutes — guide the HECB’s long-term agenda regarding transfer and include these foundational questions:
  • Do students transfer?
  • Do they transfer without loss of credit?
  • Are they successful after they transfer?
  • Is student transfer awareness increasing?
• What Well-Prepared Transfer Students Tell Us About Strategies to Remove Barriers to Transfer, January 2010
  This study observed and talked to students “well-prepared” for transfer and describes transfer outcomes for community and technical colleges. For those who did not transfer within two to four years after graduating or leaving college, the study also identifies barriers to transfer.