'Waste of time': Community college transfers derail students

This is a rotating carousel. You can navigate using the Next and Previous buttons.

1

You can also find out more about the following:

6

Ricki Korba (23), poses for a picture in her laboratory at California State University Bakersfield on Friday, 14 April 2023. Korba, a student who had taken classes at a local community college, was accepted as a transfer to CSU Bakersfield. When she logged into her student account she was shocked to learn that most of her classes would not count.

Gary Kazanjian/AP

See More

Show Less

2

You can also find out more about the following:

6

Ricki Korba (23), poses for a picture outside her laboratory at California State University Bakersfield on Friday, 14 April 2023. The chemistry major and music minor is taking classes again that she passed at a community school. This will add an extra year to her education, and cost at least $20,000 for tuition and fees. It just seems like a waste. I thought that I would be attending a CSU, starting tough classes and doing lots of cool labs.

Gary Kazanjian/AP

See More

Show Less

4

You can also find out more about the following:

6

Ricki Korba (23), a Californian woman, poses for a picture in her Bakersfield home on Friday, 14 April 2023. Korba believed she was in the right classes at Columbia College in Sonora, a local community college. She used a catalog online that showed which classes were supposed to transfer into CSU schools. When Bakersfield officials reviewed her transcript, they found that most of the classes would not count towards her major.

Gary Kazanjian/AP

See More

Show Less

5

You can also find out more about the following:

6

Ricki Korba (23), poses for a picture in her laboratory at California State University Bakersfield on Friday, 14 April 2023. Korba will likely run out of financial assistance before she graduates, as she faces an additional year of school. She is planning to work more hours and go part-time so that she can pay for tuition and rent. She wonders how she will manage to juggle all of this.

Gary Kazanjian/AP

See More

Show Less

The first good news was received. Ricki Korba, a former community college student, was accepted as a transfer to California State University Bakersfield after taking classes there. When she logged into her student account she was shocked to learn that most of her classes would not count.

She was told that the university had rejected her majority of science classes because they were considered less rigorous than those in Bakersfield, even though many used the same textbooks. Korba's transfer credits were too high, so several other courses had to be rejected.

Korba, who is majoring in chemistry and music, has to retake classes that she passed before. This will add an extra year to her education, and she'll have to pay at least $20,000 for tuition and fees.

Korba of Sonora in California said, "It feels like a complete waste of time." I thought that I would be attending a CSU, starting tough classes and doing lots of cool labs.

Each year, hundreds and thousands of students begin at a community college with the hope of transferring to a university in the future. It is advertised as an alternative to the rising cost of tuition.

But the reality is seldom that simple. The transfer process can be so confusing for some students that it can derail their college plans.

According to the National Student Clearinghouse, only one out of seven students who began at a community colleges in 2016 earned a Bachelor's degree in six years.

Credit loss is one of the most common obstacles: students who take classes but never use them to earn a degree.

It can be a sign of bad advising. Students who don't receive clear guidance from the community colleges may take courses that they do not need. The four-year institutions can be blamed as well, since they have different rules when evaluating credit transfers. Some colleges are more picky than others.

Often, the outcome is the same. The students take longer to complete their degree, which costs more in tuition. The extra work is too much for many. In the end, about half of students at community colleges drop out.

Jessie Ryan is vice president of a research organization called the Campaign for College Opportunity. She said that it was a 'complete defeat' for some students. These systems were designed for educators and colleges, but not for students.

There have been some scattered successes in the search for solutions. In many states, universities and colleges have formed partnerships in order to ensure that certain classes are transferable. Over a dozen state have implemented standardized class numbers to ensure consistency between schools.

Problems persist despite their frustration.

In a recent study conducted by the City University of New York, it was found that nearly half of students who transferred to a bachelor program from a community school lost some or all of their work. These students lost on average the equivalent of a semester.

Alexandra Logue is a researcher and former provost of the CUNY System. She said, "The pipeline from community colleges to bachelor's degrees is a very leaking pipeline." She said that the outcomes were worse for Black, Hispanic, and low-income students who tend to begin at community colleges.

Korba believed she was taking the correct classes at Columbia College in Sonora, a community colleges. She used an online catalog and worked with a counsellor to determine which classes were supposed to transfer into CSU schools.

When Bakersfield officials reviewed her transcript, they found that most of the classes she took wouldn't count towards her major.

Officials at the university declined to comment about Korba's situation, but they did say that a few transfer credits may fall into a "gray area" and need extra scrutiny. Dwayne C. Cantrell, Bakersfield’s chief enrollment officer said that credit loss was rare, and many California community college classes are automatically accepted.

Korba will likely run out of financial assistance before she graduates if she has to spend an additional year in school. She is planning to work more hours and go part-time so that she can pay for tuition and rent. She wonders how she will manage to juggle all of this.

She said, "I'm worried about how much more motivated I will be to go to school rather than focus on earning money through a job."

Korba’s story is not uncommon, particularly in California. The state has struggled for years to connect more than 30 public university campuses to its 116 community college campuses.

Mea Montanez, a student at San Francisco State University, will graduate in May after taking nearly a year of classes that she had already passed. Her classes in psychology, which was her major, were not accepted by the school because they didn't match.

Montanez said, "I'm taking these classes and it's exactly what I did." It was more difficult at the community colleges.

Officials from universities say that while classes may look similar on paper, the actual content of the class is often different. They acknowledged that there was still room for improvement.

'Credit losses happen, but we've worked hard to prevent them for a very long time', said Lori Beth Way. Dean of undergraduate education, SFSU.

Faculty often review transcripts when students transfer schools. The biology professors, for example, would decide if a class in biology from another school could be counted.

Logue, a CUNY professor, said that stigma and financial incentives can color these judgments.

She said that students who refuse credits will have to take more classes in their home school. Some faculty members have a stricter standard when it comes to accepting a course as part of a major.

She said, 'That is money and it keeps jobs for people.' "But this is a very narrow-minded view."

Several states have taken action to remove subjectivity from the process. According to a Maryland rule, classes must be accepted when they share 70% of their learning objectives with another class. Students and community colleges should be informed if credits are denied.

California has made progress with its 2010 law that requires community colleges to provide special associate degrees that guarantee admission to CSU campuses. A law passed in 2021 will force all eligible students to follow this path unless they choose not to, and create general education courses that must be accepted by all state universities.

Two Virginia colleges went further. Northern Virginia Community College students are offered the opportunity to earn a bachelor’s degree at George Mason University, located nearby, on their first day of classes. Dual admission is available at both institutions. Students can select from 87 academic paths that will tell them which classes they require.

Also known as

You can also Advance

The program is designed in a way to reduce credit losses and increase graduation rates. George Mason is expanding the model to include other community colleges.

Jason Dodge, the director of this program, said that students understand what is expected from them on Day One. They know that the rug won't be pulled out from underneath them.

EDITOR'S NOTE This story is part Saving the College Dream. It was created by AL.com in collaboration with The Associated Press (The Christian Science Monitor), The Dallas Morning News (The Hechinger Report), The Post and Courier of Charleston, South Carolina and The Seattle Times. The Solutions Journalism Network provided support.

Carnegie Corporation of New York provides support to the Associated Press Education team. All content is the sole responsibility of The Associated Press.