Boosting student transfers from community colleges to four-year institutions is a matter of getting all the right policies and programs in place.
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“It was the exposure to teachers at Georgia Perimeter and the mentors in the Leadership Academy that got me thinking I could go on and continue my education,” says Cunningham, an economics major in his junior year who plans to attend graduate school.
While Cunningham’s story, and others similar to his, endorse the community college role in expanding the pool of bachelor’s degree earners, it also points to why two-year institutions may need to strengthen their student support programs to increase overall degree completion and transfer rates. As first-generation college attendees, capable students, such as Cunningham, benefit substantially from extensive counseling and guidance programs, often making the difference in whether they persist, graduate, and transfer to four-year schools.
