An Investigation Of Student Success Between Associate Of Arts And Non Associate Of Arts Transfer Students

This dissertation investigates the possible association between admission with an Associate of Arts (AA) degree or no-AA degree, gender, and ethnicity with graduation GPA, probation, and persistence of community college transfer students admitted to the University of Central Florida in the 2001-2002 academic year (N = 5283). The literature review found that the majority of studies related to transfer student success compared transfer students to native university students. Little evidence of an association between success rates of transfer students as compared to native university students was indicated in the literature. The literature also did not indicate an association between gender and success rates or ethnic group and success rates. The results of this study suggest that admission degree, gender and ethnicity all had little to no impact on the success rates of the transfer students in the sample. The data for the students in the AA admission group indicated that receipt of an AA degree is related to student persistence. However, the test results indicated that this relationship was very weak. Due to the ever-increasing numbers of transfer students in this country, this study can be an informational tool for administrators at community colleges and universities in relation to transfer student success