A majority of students in community college intend to go on to earn a bachelor’s degree, but only 14 percent of them reach that goal, and in Georgia the numbers are even worse, according to a new national report.
The study, released Tuesday by a collection of education groups including the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, shows that only 8 percent of Georgia community college students who started in the fall of 2007 transferred and went on to earn a bachelor's degree within six years of initially enrolling.
The transfer report ranks 43 states (seven states did not have enough available data to be included in the rankings) based on transfer and graduation data. Georgia ranked toward the bottom of the reporting states in several areas. It was 36th among states in the percentage of students transferring from community college to four-year schools; and ranked 33rd for the percentage of those transfer students who earn an associate degree or certificate before transferring.
The report also found that in most states, lower-income students had worse outcomes than their higher-income peers. Georgia ranked 36th among the 43 states for the percentage of students from lower-income families who transfer and earn a bachelor’s degree in six years.
Along with the National Student Clearinghouse, the Community College Research Center at Columbia University’s Teachers College and the Aspen Institute College Excellence Fund plan to use the data to produce a guide later this year for community colleges and four-year institutions to improve completion and graduation rates for transfer students.
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