This recent article in Inside Higher Ed makes the case that community colleges provide workforce training and a pathway to baccalaureate degrees, and both of these objectives are needed in today’s America. Community colleges provide access to higher education to millions of students that otherwise may not have it, and the essential component of that access is transfer. “An effective community college transfer process has the potential to be a powerful catalyst for individual economic mobility and heightened lifetime earnings for low-income students and, in turn, transform our society.”
Authors Stephen Handel and Eileen Strempel note that, “best practices are emerging that create sustained and strategic partnerships dedicated to the success of our nation’s transfer students.” Those practices include outreach, transitional advising, recruitment, strengthened partnerships with four-year institutions, and state and institution policies that foster successful transfer.