Unlocking Opportunities: Facilitating Student Transfers from Two- to Four-Year Colleges through Coaching

Community colleges enroll nearly half of all new degree-seeking students, as well as a disproportionate share of students with low income, who identify as members of racial or ethnic minority groups, or who would be the first in their families to complete college. Research shows that while these institutions generate substantial returns when compared to not attending college, they can also detrimentally impact students by diverting them from four-year colleges. About 80% of new community college students intend to transfer to a four-year college, yet less than one third do so. Can targeted coaching help lift some of the barriers preventing students from transferring? We address this question by evaluating a transfer coaching program for community college students in Tennessee. A total of 2649 students across 4 cohorts have participated in the program, after being randomly chosen from a pool of over 6000 interested students. We will assess the impact of transfer coaching on students’ transfer rates and four-year college persistence. We will enrich quantitative findings with student interviews and surveys.