A growing number of students, called reverse transfer students, attend community colleges at the same time they are enrolled at a four-year institution or after they earn a bachelor's degree. This article explains the motivations and effects of reverse transfer on both students and institutions, and it discusses the potentially positive consequences of reverse transfer in relation to community colleges' multiple missions. Future empirical analyses of the efficiency and equity effects of reverse transfer are critical for developing effective institutional interventions and helping state policymakers to design more coordinated higher education systems that enhance student and institutional performance.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Adelman, C., Daniel, B., & Berkovits, I. (2003). Postsecondary attainment, attendance, curriculum and performance: Selected results from the NELS:88/2000 Postsecondary Education Transcript Study (PETS), 2000 (NCES Report No. NCES2003-394). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.
2.
Bach, S. K., Banks, M., Kinnick, M. K., Ricks, M. F., & Stoering, J. M. (1999). Reverse transfer students in an urban postsecondary system in Oregon. In B. Townsend (Ed.), Understanding the impact of reverse transfer students on community colleges, (pp. 47-56). New Directions for Community Colleges, no. 106. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
3.
Bach, S. K., Banks, M. T., Kinnick, M. K., Ricks, M. F., Stoering, J. M., & Walleri, R. D. (2000). Student attendance patterns and performance in an urban postsecondary environment. Research in Higher Education, 41(3), 315-330.
4.
Bailey, T. (2002). Community colleges in the 21st century: Challenges and opportunities. In P. A. Gram & N. Stacy (Eds.), The knowledge economy and postsecondary education: Report of a workshop (pp. 1-10). Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
5.
Bailey, T., & Averianova, I. E. (1998). Multiple missions of community colleges: Conflicting or complementary?New York: Columbia University Teachers College, Community College Research Center. Available from: http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/Publication.asp?UID=17
6.
Bailey, T., & Morest, V. S. (2004). The organizational efficiency of multiple missions for community colleges. New York: Columbia University, Teachers College, Community College Research Center. Available from http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/Publication.asp?UID=7
7.
Brint, T. R., & Karabel, J. B. (1989). The diverted dream: Community colleges and the promise of educational opportunity in America, 1900-1985. New York: Oxford University Press.
8.
Catanzaro, J. L. (1999). Understanding and recruiting the reverse transfer students: A presidential perspective. In B. Townsend (Ed.), Understanding the impact of reverse transfer students on community colleges (pp. 27-34). New Directions for Community Colleges, no. 106. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
9.
Dougherty, K. J. (2002). The evolving role of the community college: Policy issues and research questions. In J. C. Smart & W. G. Tierney (Eds.), Higher education: Handbook of theory and research, volume XVII (pp. 295-348). New York: Agathon Press.
10.
Grubb, W. N. (1999). Honored but invisible: An inside look at teaching in community colleges. New York: Routledge.
11.
Hilmer, M. J. (2000). Does the return to university quality differ for transfer students and direct attendees?Economics of Education Review, 19(1), 47-61.
12.
Kajstura, A., & Keim, M. C. (1992). Reverse transfer students in Illinois community colleges. Community College Review, 20(2), 39-44.
13.
LeBard, C. (1999). Sources and information on the scope and impact of reverse transfers. In B. Townsend (Ed.), Understanding the impact of reverse transfer students on community colleges (pp. 85-92). New Directions for Community Colleges, no. 106. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
14.
Lopez, D., Jr. (2002). Understanding reverse transfer from the student's perspective: A case study of Illinois State University students who transfer to Heartland Community College and return to the university. Dissertation Abstracts International, 64(4), 1191-1191. (UMI No. AAT 3088026)
15.
McCormick, A. C. (2003). Swirling and double-dipping: New patterns of student attendance and their implications for higher education. In J. E. King, E. L. Anderson, & M. E. Corrigan (Eds.), Changing student attendance patterns: Challenges for policy and practice (pp. 13-24). New Directions for Higher Education, no. 121. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
16.
McCormick, A. C., & Carroll, C. D. (1997). Transfer behavior among beginning postsecondary students: 1989-1994 (NCES Report No. NCES97-266). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.
17.
McHugh, E. J. (2003). Post-baccalaureate reverse transfer students and two-year restrictive access allied health program. Dissertation Abstracts International, 64(9), 3173-3173. (UMI No. AAT 3107090)
18.
Peter, K., & Cataldi, E. F. (2005). The road less traveled? Students who enrolled in multiple institutions (NCES Report No. NCES2005-157). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Educational Statistics.
19.
Phelan, D. J. (1999). Institutional and public policy implications of the phenomenon of reverse transfer students. In B. Townsend (Ed.), Understanding the impact of reverse transfer students on community colleges (pp. 77-84). New Directions for Community Colleges, no. 106. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
20.
Quinley, J. W., & Quinley, M. P. (1999). The urban postbaccalaureate reverse transfer student: Giving new meaning to the term second chance. In B. Townsend (Ed.), Understanding the impact of reverse transfer students on community colleges (pp. 35-46). New Directions for Community Colleges, no. 106. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
21.
Rab, S. Y. (2004). Swirling students: Putting a new spin on college attrition. Dissertation Abstracts International, 65(3), 1127-1127. (UMI No. AAT 3125888)
22.
Tinto, V. (1987). Leaving college: Rethinking the causes and cures of student attrition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
23.
Townsend, B. K. (1999). Editor's note. In B. Townsend (Ed.), Understanding the impact of reverse transfer students on community colleges (pp. 1-4). New Directions for Community Colleges, no. 106. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
24.
Townsend, B. K. (2000). Rationals of community colleges for enrolling reverse transfer students: A second chance for whom?Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 24(4), 301-311.
25.
Townsend, B. K. (2001a, November). Four-year college students' use of the community college: A middle-class takeover? Paper presented at the 26th annual conferences of the Association for the Study of Higher Education, Richmond, VA.
26.
Townsend, B. K. (2001b). Redefining the community college transfer mission. Community College Review, 29(2), 29-42.
27.
Townsend, B. K., & Dever, J. T. (1999). What do we know about reverse transfer students? In B. Townsend (Ed.), Understanding the impact of reverse transfer students on community colleges (pp. 5-14). New Directions for Community Colleges, no. 106. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
28.
Townsend, B. K., & Lambert, R. K (1999). Postbaccalaureate reverse transfer in Maryland and Tennessee: Institutional problems and possibilities. In B. Townsend (Ed.), Understanding the impact of reverse transfer students on community colleges (pp. 67-76). New Directions for Community Colleges, no. 106. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
29.
Winston, G. C. (2003). Toward a theory of tuition: Prices, peer wages, and competition in higher education. (Williams Project on the Economics of Higher Education Discussion Paper No. 65). Williamstown, MA: Williams Project on the Economics of Higher Education. Retrieved March 16, 2006, from http://www.williams.edu/wpehe/DPs/DP-65.pdf
30.
Winston, G. C., & Zimmerman, D. J. (2003). Peer effects in higher education. (Williams Project on the Economics of Higher Education Discussion Paper No. 64). Williamstown, MA: Williams Project on the Economics of Higher Education. Retrieved March 16, 2006, from http://www.williams.edu/wpehe/DPs/DP-64.pdf
31.
Winter, P. A., & Harris, M. R. (2000). Community college reverse transfer students: A field survey of a nontraditional student group. Community College Review, 27(1), 13-28.
