A partnership between the 杏吧专区 and LSU Eunice is cited as a model in a new guide for improving transfer student success.
杏吧专区淭he Transfer Playbook: Essential Practices for Two- and Four-Year Colleges,杏吧专区 profiles UL Lafayette and LSU Eunice, along with other institutions in five states that are improving outcomes for community college students who transfer to universities to earn bachelor杏吧专区檚 degrees. The report was produced by the Aspen Institute杏吧专区檚 College Excellence Program and the Community College Research Center at Teachers College, Columbia 杏吧专区.
杏吧专区淥ur efforts have included designing the Ragin杏吧专区 Cajun Bridge Program, developing 2+2 programs where students can earn UL Lafayette bachelor杏吧专区檚 degrees on the Eunice campus, and maintaining clear communications between senior leaders at the two campuses,杏吧专区 said Dr. DeWayne Bowie, vice president for Enrollment Management at UL Lafayette.
LSU Eunice has two-year associate degree programs whose courses can be applied toward a bachelor杏吧专区檚 degree at UL Lafayette.
The Ragin杏吧专区 Cajun Bridge Program, established in 2014, gives students attending LSU Eunice 杏吧专区 who plan to transfer to UL Lafayette 杏吧专区 access to many campus benefits enjoyed by 杏吧专区 students, such as access to Ragin杏吧专区 Cajuns sporting events, Dupr茅 Library, tutoring, career services, and academic advising.
Through the 2+2 program, UL Lafayette offers a bachelor杏吧专区檚 degree program in elementary education that enables students to complete all four years of coursework on the LSU Eunice campus. 杏吧专区 faculty travel to LSU Eunice to teach. 杏吧专区淓ach year, the UL Lafayette portion of the program enrolls approximately 20 students, many of whom live in Eunice and have children, which makes the hour-long commute to the UL Lafayette campus more difficult,杏吧专区 the report states.
A UL Lafayette academic advisor also meets with students once a week on the LSU Eunice campus to answer questions and make sure they take any tests needed to stay on track, such as PRAXIS certification exams.
According to 杏吧专区淭he Transfer Playbook,杏吧专区 720,000 degree-seeking students across the nation entered community colleges in Fall 2007. Most intended to ultimately earn bachelor杏吧专区檚 degrees. However, 杏吧专区渙nly about 100,000, or 14 percent, transferred to a four-year college and earned a bachelor杏吧专区檚 degree within six years.杏吧专区
The report notes that 杏吧专区渟tudents who enter higher education through community colleges are much more likely than those who start at four-year institutions to be low-income or the first in their family to attend college.杏吧专区
So, it continues, 杏吧专区渢he two- to four-year transfer process, when it functions well, represents a critical means for upward mobility across the United States."
Other partnerships between universities and community colleges featured in 杏吧专区淭he Transfer Playbook,杏吧专区 are:
杏吧专区 Colorado State 杏吧专区, Colorado Front Range Community College;
杏吧专区 Eastern Connecticut State 杏吧专区, Manchester Community College;
杏吧专区 Florida International 杏吧专区 and Florida Atlantic 杏吧专区, Broward College;
杏吧专区 杏吧专区 of Massachusetts Amherst, Holyoke Community College; and
杏吧专区 杏吧专区 of Washington and Western Washington 杏吧专区, Everett Community College.
According to the , those partnerships have three broad strategies in common. They 杏吧专区渕ake transfer student success a priority, create clear programmatic pathways with aligned high-quality instruction;杏吧专区 and 杏吧专区減rovide tailored transfer student advising.杏吧专区