Collaboration Between Community Colleges and a University to Increase Transfer Student Success in STEM

Mount St. Mary'S University, Emmitsburg MD

Investigators

Abstract

This project will contribute to the national need for well-educated scientists, mathematicians, and engineers, and technicians by supporting the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income community college transfer students with demonstrated financial need at Mount St. Mary’s University, a small private Catholic liberal arts university. The university will partner with two regional community colleges, Montgomery College and Frederick Community College, to strengthen the transfer process and promote transfer student success. Over its five-year duration, the project will provide two-year scholarships to 27 transfer students, in three cohorts. The Scholars will pursue bachelor’s degrees in biochemistry, biology, chemistry, computer science, cybersecurity, environmental science, and/or mathematics. Community college and university faculty will collaborate to recruit and advise all students interested in transferring to a four-year institution. Upon acceptance in the fall of their second year at the community college, students will receive extensive pre-transfer support and some will be selected to receive scholarships. At the university, all transfer students will benefit from supports designed to promote retention and graduation of STEM students. As a result, the project has the potential for impact well beyond the 27 Scholars. The project will educate faculty about inclusive pedagogy to help promote academic achievement of diverse students. Evaluation of the project’s activities will advance understanding of effective strategies for supporting recruitment, retention, and success of community college transfer students in STEM. The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. Mount St. Mary’s University will partner with Frederick Community College and Montgomery College to implement the Transfer Pathways Program, an enhanced recruiting program designed to increase transfer capital. Students accepted into the university will receive extensive pre-transfer support designed to further increase transfer capital and facilitate their transition. Upon matriculation to the university, they will receive academic, social, and professional development support designed to promote retention and graduation. Selected students will also receive scholarships. The intended measurable outcomes of this project are: 1) To recruit and financially support 27 Pell-eligible STEM students from Montgomery College and Frederick Community College; 2) To retain 90% of the Scholars through graduation; 3) To place 90% of Scholars in graduate school or professional roles in their STEM field within one year of graduation; 4) To determine the effectiveness of the institutional partnership on promoting enrollment, transfer capital, and engagement of academically talented, low-income STEM community college transfer students. Because much of the research examining transfer student success has involved large, public institutions, it is important to understand how institutional partnerships between community colleges and small private universities can promote transfer capital, student engagement, and student success. Measures of these variables will be compared pre- and post-participation in the Transfer Pathways program and between community college students who participated in Transfer Pathways and those who did not. Through publications and conference presentations, the partnering institutions will widely disseminate research and evaluation results. This project is funded by NSF’s Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics program, which seeks to increase the number of low-income academically talented students with demonstrated financial need who earn degrees in STEM fields. It also aims to improve the education of future STEM workers, and to generate knowledge about academic success, retention, transfer, graduation, and academic/career pathways of low-income students. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.