Interstate Passport Network Member Laramie County
Community College in Wyoming works to raise awareness with its student by
introducing Interstate Passport in its newest viewbook and by placing baseball
card size informational materials on tables in student advising offices.
Interstate Passport® is excited to announce its upcoming webinar
The Transfer Landscape in the U.S.,
starting at 1:00 PM Mountain on February 25, 2019. This webinar will be presented by Doug Shapiro,
executive research director of the National Student Clearinghouse Research
Center (NSCRC). NSCRC publishes reports highlighting national student transfer
patterns and how student mobility is related to persistence, stop-out,
completion and time to degree. Shaprio’s webinar will review the latest results
and what they reveal about transfer students today. In particular, what are the
trends? Why is student mobility important? How many transfer students cross
state lines? And how can you derive insights from this research to help
students in your institution to be more successful?
Shapiro has conducted research in higher education for
nearly twenty years. Prior to joining the NSCRC he held positions as director
of institutional research at The New School (NY), and vice president for
research and policy development at the Minnesota Private College Council. He
holds an M.A. in mathematics, and a Ph.D. in education from the University of
Michigan’s Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education.
Concordia University, St. Paul is the latest institution to join the Interstate Passport Network (Network), coming aboard on January 3, 2019. Established in 1893, Concordia University, St. Paul is a private, comprehensive liberal arts university that offers over 80 programs for students seeking traditional undergraduate, degree completion, graduate, or doctoral degrees. It offers numerous scholarship opportunities for both first-time college students as well as transfer students, and the university has a 94.57% placement rate post-graduation for undergraduate students. Concordia University, St. Paul is located in St. Paul, Minnesota. It is the first private institution and the third beyond the western region to join the Network. The growing Network now encompasses 29 institutions across 11 states and is aiming for comprehensive national coverage. “Concordia University, St. Paul is excited to be the first Minnesota school to become a member of Interstate Passport,” said Dr. Eric LaMott, Concordia University, St. Paul provost. “Interstate Passport aligns with Concordia’s ideals of providing transparency to the transfer credit process and providing more seamless transfer opportunities to students outside the state of Minnesota.”
By Thomas B. Steen, PhD, Passport State Facilitator
Recently in Orlando, three of us “Passporters” participated in the United States’ largest gathering of student veterans. The Student Veterans of America’s (SVA) national conference is held annually to provide support and advice for students currently serving in one of the U.S. branches of service and for students who have completed their service. The basic aim of the SVA is to help military and veteran (M/V) students find quality educational opportunities and help them solve the particular problems that this group typically faces at our colleges and universities. Our team—Russ Chavez, Tony Flores, and I—had a wonderful chance at the conference to meet a large number of both veteran and military college students, as well as college and university administrators who work with M/V students.
We were there because many of you have
expressed interest in reaching out to M/V students and, hopefully, attracting
them to your institutions. As you probably know, the number of veterans is
significant (about 4.1 million post-9/11 veterans now), and they come to higher
education with substantial support-in-hand in the form of GI Bill benefits.
Since most states are experiencing or anticipating a decrease in their
traditional college-potential enrollees, reaching out to M/V students makes a
lot of sense for institutions.
Interstate Passport Network (Network)
institutions have a great deal of potential to connect with and serve M/V
students. By taking advantage of the built-in collaboration that the Network
provides, member schools and systems can develop procedures to attract and
support past and current service members who want to enroll and earn degrees. A
student who is currently in-service can earn a Passport and move on to the next
post without needing to repeat general education requirements at the next
college. Service members seeking promotion can use a Passport as a catalyst en
route to the bachelor’s degree, either at the same institution or a different
one in the Interstate Passport Network. Veterans, and their dependents, can
take advantage of the benefits of the GI Bill to earn a Passport. Younger
veterans, who went into service right after high school, can get a boost toward
earning associate’s degrees at Network member institutions by completing the
general education work in the Passport Block and also using their Passports to
transfer to bachelor’s degree studies. Other veterans who have completed some
college work, either before or during service, may be able to “get a leg up” by
earning a Passport, thus decreasing time to degree.
As readers know, Interstate Passport was
designed to help college students achieve success by simplifying procedures and
reducing added general education requirements and unnecessary repetition of
courses. The special focus of Interstate Passport is making transfer smoother
and more successful for students. This is especially important for M/V students
who transfer frequently due to deployments, assignment changes, and promotions.
In that sense, Interstate Passport has much to offer the military-connected
student, and it has much to offer to institutions that see themselves as
military-friendly.
Some institutions may worry that M/V
students may take more effort or lack the skills and knowledge to take on
college work. However, the opposite is true. Veteran students achieve average
higher GPAs than traditional students (veterans average GPA 3.35 vs. 2.94 for
traditional students). Most veteran students have had a broader range of life
experiences, are more likely to have experience in positions of responsibility
and have worked in more diverse settings and with greater diversity of people
than the college students who go directly from high school into college and have
not done military service. With this level of potential for academic success
and this wide experience, M/V students are surely worth the effort to reach out
to and recruit to enroll in Interstate Passport Network institutions.
All of us in higher education today are
looking for ways to strengthen and expand our student bodies. Reaching out to
M/V students can be an excellent way to add both diversity and quality to the
campus. M/V students come ready to study and ready to pay, and they clearly have
the potential to be successful students. Interstate Passport Network
institutions are uniquely positioned to meet the needs of M/V students. Network
members make it easy to work with these students—Interstate Passport is in
place, makes transfer smooth, and provides a success-oriented means to complete
degrees on time…..something that all students need in today’s world.
Russ Chavez and Tony Flores direct
veterans’ affairs offices at their institutions: Chavez at South Dakota State
University and Flores at Utah State University. Steen is a consultant to Interstate Passport staff. All are members of
the Interstate Passport Network’s Military and Veterans Affairs Advisory
Committee.
Miya Walker is the director of college relations, public
affairs and governmental relations at Cerritos College in California and
oversees the district’s external relations with local communities and
governmental agencies in addition to the campus media, advertising, marketing
and web administration. Walker also is the Interstate Passport campus marketing
representative for Cerritos and facilitates the marketing and communication
efforts of Interstate Passport at the campus. The role of the campus marketing
representative is to help raise awareness about Interstate Passport and the
benefits of earning a Passport to students, faculty and staff. Walker currently
serves on the Interstate Passport Campus Marketing Advisory Committee and
recently developed an Interstate Passport marketing campaign that targets
students “where they are” and how they consume information. The campaign
includes a video, social media posts, on campus collateral, and poster dioramas
at public transit stops along the Los Angeles Metro Green Line frequented by
Cerritos College students.
“With the majority of our students being first
generation, it is important for us to utilize the right mix of marketing assets
to spread the message,” says Walker. “We’ve tried to keep our marketing efforts
relatively digestible and targeted so that our students don’t have to sift
through the message to understand it. We’ve targeted spaces where our students
gather like the use of public transit areas and social media to make students
who are normally unfamiliar with higher education and the traditional college
experience aware of the Interstate Passport program right where they are.”
Education Dive featured two articles this past month that
address student transfer. The first article discusses how veterans are
underrepresented at top US colleges. The second article examines how transfer
students from community colleges fare compared to those who matriculate from
high school.
The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center publishes reports highlighting national student transfer patterns and how student mobility is related to persistence, stopout, completion and time to degree. This webinar reviews the latest results and what they reveal about transfer students today. In particular, what are the trends? Why is student mobility important? How many transfers cross state lines? And how can you derive insights from this research to help students in your institution to be more successful?
Doug Shapiro is the executive research director of the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, which advances student access and success by providing the education community with data and insights from the nation’s largest student-level longitudinal dataset of college enrollment and degree information. The Research Center publishes annual trends and benchmarks in student enrollment, persistence, transfer, mobility and completion. The Center also provides data services and measurement of student outcomes for high schools, districts, states, postsecondary institutions, researchers and other educational organizations. Shapiro has conducted research in higher education for nearly twenty years. Prior to joining the Clearinghouse he held positions as director of institutional research at The New School (NY), and vice president for research and policy development at the Minnesota Private College Council. He holds an M.A. in mathematics, and a Ph.D. in education from the University of Michigan’s Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education.
In The Chronicle of Higher Education a recent article, Inside
the UC System’s New Focus on Transfer Students, discusses strategies
being employed by the University of California System to increase the number of
transfer students in its total student population.
Inside Higher Ed featured two articles this past month
that address student transfer. The first article discusses findings in the most
recent report on college completion rates from the National Student
Clearinghouse Research Center. The second article examines policy plans from
the U.S. Department of Education.
The report regarding the 2012
student cohort discusses findings that completion rates for transfer students
from two-year to four-year institutions increased 1.1 percentage points,
to 15.8 percent.
Secretary DeVos and U.S. Education
Department officials today outline plans for looming accreditation reform
negotiation, describing focus on credit transfer and credential inflation.
Thomas Krabacher - California Passport State Facilitator
Tom Krabacher is the chair and a
faculty member of the Department of Geography at the California State
University (CSU), Sacramento. For over 25 years he has instructed students in a
variety of geography courses on topics covering climate, population, and
demographics. For the past decade, Krabacher has
also served on the statewide Academic Senate of the CSU, with responsibility
for monitoring higher education legislation at the state level.
Tom Krabacher, Passport State Facilitator
Krabacher initially became involved with Interstate
Passport during the development phase of the Passport Learning Outcomes as the chair
of the Natural Sciences Interstate Faculty Team. He is also the chair of the
Interstate Faculty Team Chairs Committee which is convened annually to discuss
the nine knowledge and skill areas and provide recommendations to the Passport
Review Board. As Passport State Facilitator for the state of California,
Krabacher works to raise awareness about the Interstate Passport through the
state and has facilitated institutions becoming members of the Network.
As chair of Natural Sciences team, it was apparent “from the
very beginning, the framework for Interstate Passport would be based on
faculty-developed learning outcomes and proficiency criteria. This approach
ensured that student competency in the subject matter would be a priority.
As a Passport State Facilitator, I find it very rewarding that I can speak
directly to the importance of faculty involvement with Interstate Passport and
the benefit for students when communicating with potential member institutions
about joining the Interstate Passport Network.”
By Michael Torrens, director of institutional research and accreditation, Utah State University
My office has been spending time recently using the Interstate Passport’s newly expanded interactive website displaying student transfer data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. The data, mapping, and visualizations have provided us with new insight into national patterns of undergraduate student transfer behavior and given us new appreciation for the value provided to students through state-wide participation in Interstate Passport. This work has uncovered some surprising details in the patterns both inside and outside of Utah, which are shared below.
First, a little detail: the Interstate Passport Network is the only nationwide network of accredited, nonprofit, public and private two- and four-year institutions dedicated to the block transfer of lower-division general education attainment based on multi-state faculty-developed learning outcomes and proficiency criteria. In Utah, the state higher education system has done a lot of work on general education articulation. Utah institutions have common course numbering and sequencing for general education courses, state-level essential learning outcomes for each area of general education, and excellent inter-institutional coordination. Given this, one might question why the Interstate Passport – which provides for block transfer of lower division general education – would be so valuable for our schools?
The reality
is that our in-state general education planning and coordination can quickly
break down with students who are transferring into Utah from other states, or
for our own Utah students who seek to transfer to institutions in other states.
In many cases, these students may be faced with having to repeat general
education coursework for learning outcomes that they have already achieved in
another state. There’s a wealth of research showing that a major cause of
higher education student attrition is being forced to repeat (and pay for)
prior course-work, and data shows that transfers between states (in and out)
are increasing.
What
patterns are visible on this website, and what
might they mean for other states and institutions considering joining the
Interstate Passport Network? Some of the details are quite well-known. The top
five states (in terms of transfers into and out of the state) are: California,
Texas, Illinois, Florida, and Pennsylvania. But the details are interesting.
Interstate transfers are only 17% of the volume of transfers that occur within the State of California, for
example. But they represent almost half of that volume for Pennsylvania,
Illinois, and Florida. It’s also interesting to go further down that list. The
next five largest interstate transfer states (in and out) are: Maryland, New
York, New Jersey, Virginia, and Minnesota. In Maryland, for students who started
in the 2010 Cohort, 8,132 students either transferred out of the state or
transferred from other states to institutions in Maryland. This was almost 96%
of the volume of transfers within the
state. For Minnesota, interstate transfer was 72% (6,483 students) of
intra-state volume. For Virginia it was 56% (6,592 students) when compared to
transfers within the state.
The
statistics are even more stark when one reviews states with lower transfer
volumes. There are ten states where interstate transfers in 2010 represented
more than 100% of the volume of transfers within that state: Arizona (106%),
Hawaii (101%), Idaho (110%), Montana (145%), New Hampshire (151%), New Mexico
(107%), North Dakota (334%), South Dakota (165%), Vermont (223%), and West
Virginia (181%).
Even though
Utah doesn’t make the top-ten lists, we still have hundreds of our students
that transfer out of the state (861 from the 2010 Cohort) and in (489 from the
2010 Cohort). It’s been quite valuable to explore the website,
and uncover which states are the largest feeders and destinations for our
students. While the expected patterns are present (transfers to and from
surrounding states, and California), it turns out that Texas is a particularly
important source and destination for Utah’s transfer students, and Florida and
Virginia are also feeders and destinations for interstate transfer students.
I encourage
you to explore the details for your state to better understand the potential
value of block-transfer of general education and participating in the
Interstate Passport Network for your students. There are thousands of students
who could potentially benefit from block transfer of general education, not to
mention the value that achieving general education as a milestone can have upon
student motivation and persistence.
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