Table I - New Transfers as of Census Reporting Transferred From Four Year Institutions

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1 Transfer Study of Enrollments, General Education Component, Graduation and Course Articulation For Selected Fall Enrollments and Graduation Sessions at Illinois State University Study completed in April 2002 by Carolyn Bartlett, Yvonne Huber & Tricia Reimer Since the early 1970 s, Illinois State has encouraged transfer students to complete the baccalaureateoriented Associate Degree. If the new transfer student s transcript reflects the baccalaureate-oriented Associate Degree, the student will be admitted to Illinois State as a junior and will have fulfilled the general education component of the bachelor s degree. Transfer students who are admitted without the baccalaureate-oriented Associate Degree, may fulfill the general education component by completing Illinois State s general education program or the General Education Core Curriculum (GECC) or transfer credit back to the previous institution and earn the baccalaureate-oriented Associate Degree from the former institution. The GECC was developed by the Illinois Articulation Initiative and implemented the summer of 1998 for new freshmen. At Illinois State the GECC became effective with the undergraduate catalog. Also, Illinois State will accept, articulate, and place transfer courses from non-iai institutions for meeting GECC requirements.. This study is designed to review transfer statistics regarding admission type, the number of transfer students that enter Illinois State with the baccalaureate-oriented Associate degree completed, the number of transfer students that transfer credit from more than one institution and the placement of transfer courses from non-iai institutions to meet GECC requirements. This study also examined the records of those students awarded a bachelor s degree (December 1999 through December 2001) who completed the GECC as their general education component for the degree requirement. Each fall Illinois State enrolls approximately 3,000 new native students and 1,800 new transfer students. Table I reflects the number and percent of transfer students enrolled by admission type for Fall 1999, Fall 2000, and Fall 2001 by type of transfer institution. Table I - New Transfers as of Census Reporting Transferred From Four Year Institutions Transferred From Two year Institutions N Pct. N Pct. Total Fall % 1,437 80% 1,803 Fall % 1,523 84% 1,805 Fall % 1,603 82% 1,949 Grand Total % 4,563 82% 5,557 Table I shows that 82 % of the transfer students transfer to Illinois State from a two-year institution. Table II - Total Undergraduate Enrollment as of Census Reporting Native % of total Transfer % of total Grand Total Fall ,677 63% 6,718 37% 18,395 Fall ,179 65% 6,606 35% 18,785 Fall ,786 64% 6,686 36% 18,472 Grand Total 35,642 64% 20,010 36% 55,652

2 Table II shows the total Undergraduate enrollment by native and transfer student. Table II reveals that for the past three fall semesters, 36% of the undergraduate enrollment consists of transfer students. Table III - Upper Division (Jr. & Sr.) Undergraduate Enrollment as of Census Reporting Native % of total Transfer % of total Grand Total Fall ,640 47% 5,285 53% 9,925 Fall ,803 48% 5,235 52% 10,038 Fall ,876 48% 5,281 52% 10,157 Grand Total 14,319 48% 15,801 52% 30,120 Table III shows upper division undergraduate enrollment by native and transfer student and shows that the upper division (junior-senior) enrollment consists of 52% transfer students. Table IV shows the number and percent of transfer students from a two-year institution transferring with a baccalaureate-oriented Associate Degree Table IV - New Transfers from 2 year institution as of census reporting noting baccalaureate-oriented associate degree or not New 2 yr transfer With Baccalaureateoriented % of total Without Baccalaureateoriented % of total Fall , % 1,017 71% Fall , % 1,125 74% Fall , % 1,210 75% Grand Total 4,563 1,211 27% 3,352 73% Statistics from Table IV reveal that approximately 27% of transfer students from a two-year institution presented a transcript noting a baccalaureate-oriented Associate Degree at the beginning of their first term. Conversely, 73% of the transfer students did not present a baccalaureate-oriented Associate Degree as of the beginning of their first term. Table V - New Transfers that do not have Baccalaureate-Oriented Associate Degree but have completed GECC Core Total % of total Total New Transfers Fall % 1,805 Fall % 1,949 Grand Total 25 1% 3,754 Table V reveals that 1% of the transfer students presented transcripts showing completion of the GECC at the point of transfer. It should be noted that the GECC began with the undergraduate catalog. For fall 1999, no students presented to Illinois State a transcript indicating completion of the GECC prior to enrollment at Illinois State. Statewide statistics note that part-time 2

3 students represent the largest percent of enrollment at two year institutions. Since the GECC is in its fourth year, the small number is not surprising. Likewise Illinois State encourages transfer students to complete the baccalaureate associate degree. Given the statistics in Table IV and V, twenty-eight percent of the transfer students completed the general education requirement (27% completed a baccalaureate-oriented Associate Degree and 1% completed GECC) prior to their first semester enrollment at Illinois State. Thus the majority of the new transfer students enrolled at Illinois State in Fall 1999, Fall 2000, and Fall 2001 will either complete the general education component of their baccalaureate degree program while enrolled at Illinois State or attend their former institution in the summer or transfer credit back from Illinois State to the former institution and complete the baccalaureate-oriented Associate Degree. Transfer students may attend one or more institutions prior to transferring to Illinois State University. Table VI shows that 75% of the transfer students in this population transferred to Illinois State University from a single institution. Illinois State became their second post secondary institution of attendance. Table VI - New Transfers who transferred from single institution Total % of total Total New Transfers Fall ,349 75% 1,803 Fall ,343 74% 1,805 Fall ,459 75% 1,949 Grand Total 4,151 75% 5,557 Attendance at multiple post secondary institutions is not unusual. Other studies done by Illinois State at the point of graduation reveal that over 80% of all students receiving a bachelor s degree have transfer credit as part of their academic record and thus have attended more than one post secondary institution prior to receiving the bachelor s degree. Illinois State finds that many native students will during the summer session attend an institution near their hometown. In December 1999 Illinois State awarded the first bachelor degree in which the general education component completed was GECC. To examine the course enrollment patterns, we reviewed the records of transfer students awarded bachelor s degrees between December 1999 and December Table VII shows the number of students awarded bachelor degrees between December 1999 and December 2001 by admission type. Table VII Students Awarded Bachelor Degrees By Illinois State University December 1999 through December 2001 Native Transfer Student % of Total Student % of Total Total 4,547 49% 4,761 51% 9,308 Data in Table VII reveals that between December 1999 and December 2001 Illinois State awarded more bachelor degrees to students who entered as a transfer student (51%) than to native students. 3

4 Data in Table VIII identifies the general education program completed by the 4,761 transfer students receiving Bachelor Degrees December 1999 through December Table VIII General Education Program Completed By Transfer Students Awarded Bachelor Degrees between December 1999 and December 2001 Degree ISU General Education ISU Univ. Studies GECC Total 2,453 (52%) 54 (1%) 2,062 (43%) 192 (4%) 4,761 Table VIII reveals that 52% of the transfer students at the point of graduation had completed the baccalaureate-oriented associate degree, 43% completed the Illinois State University Studies (general education program in through undergraduate catalogs), 4% completed the GECC, and 1% completed the new ISU general education program. It should be noted that many transfer students while in attendance at Illinois State will transfer credit back to their former institution or attend the former institution during the summer with the intent of completing the Baccalaureateoriented Associate Degree prior to receiving the Bachelor Degree. While Table IV does not reflect the same student population, statistics in Table IV and Table VIII may suggest this pattern of enrollment. Since the current Illinois State General Education program has a different structure than GECC, we anticipate, in the future, more transfer students completing GECC than the Illinois State University s General Education program. The academic records of the 192 transfer students who completed the GECC as the general education component were reviewed in an effort to identify the GECC hours and courses completed at Illinois State, at other IAI institutions, and at non-iai institutions (Illinois State articulates courses based on IAI course descriptions from non-iai institutions and assigns appropriate IAI codes to these courses). The data for these findings is presented in Table IX. Table IX-Completion of Hours & Courses Used For Fulfilling GECC Requirements Taken At Illinois State, Another IAI Institution, or Non IAI Institution Credit From Institution IAI Other than ISU No of Students % of Total No.ISU No.ISU IAI IAI 36 19% , IAI and ISU % 332 1,027 1,011 3, IAI and ISU, IAI, and 6 3% % ISU and 6 3% % Totals ,397 1,631 5, Data from Table IX revealed that 76 % of the transfer students awarded a Bachelor Degree between December 1999 and December 2001 completed the GECC requirements by taking only IAI faculty 4

5 approved courses (courses completed at ISU and other IAI institutions). Note, Illinois State is an IAI institution but for the purposes of this study the course enrollments and credit hours were separated out. For the remaining 24% of the transfer students awarded a Bachelor s Degree between December 1999 and December 2001, Illinois State articulated courses from non-iai institutions and used these courses to fulfill some of the GECC requirements. Only one student was recognized as completing GECC by courses taken at only a non-iai institution. A review of the number of courses taken and the number of credit hours earned for this population of 192 transfer students revealed that these students completed 2,346 courses generating 7,368.2 semester hours. Of the courses completed, 2,080 courses or 89% were completed at IAI institutions whereas 266 or 11% were completed at non-iai institutions. SUMMARY This study reaffirms that transfer students represent a significant student population at Illinois State University, especially at the upper division undergraduate level. Second at the point of graduation, over 50% of the transfer students presented the baccalaureate-oriented Associate Degree as the general education component. Third, it is not unusual for a student to attend one or more institutions during their higher education career. Fourth the majority of the transfer students in this population completed the GECC using only faculty approved IAI courses. Fifth Illinois State s decision to articulate courses from the non-iai institutions to IAI courses that fulfilled GECC requirements permitted 24% of the students to complete the GECC without having to repeat the same/similar courses at Illinois State. 5