Evidence First

Transferring credits from a community college to a four-year institution remains a crucial strategy to boosting bachelor’s degree attainment and improving outcomes for graduates. But transfer students often face significant challenges to having their credits accepted and, more importantly, applied to degree requirements at four-year institutions. Faculty members in teaching, research, and administrative positions play a pivotal role in decisions about whether and how credits transfer. Yet little is known about how they approach these decisions or what factors influence their judgment. MDRC is working with three University of Texas System colleges to better understand how faculty members make these decisions within a large and complex transfer landscape. In this episode, Leigh Parise talks with Marjorie Dorimé-Williams, senior research associate at MDRC, leading the study.