The volume of transfer students across college and university campuses in the United States continues to rise; however, institutions continue to struggle with identifying and applying best practices that encourage these students to earn their baccalaureate degree at rates comparable to their non-transferring peers. Prior research suggests many students experience transfer shock upon entering their new institution and that their performance outcomes may vary depending on their academic and social integration experiences (Cejda et al., 1998; Diaz, 1992; Eels, 1927; Hills, 1965; Ishitani, 2008; Knoell & Medsker, 1965; Laanan, 2001; Martorana & Williams, 1954; Nickens, 1972). To overcome these challenges, Tinto (1988, 1993) articulated the importance of integration, a key objective of the course studied in this research, as a means to more seamlessly assimilate into the new community resulting in a stronger institutional commitment, improved performance, and increased levels of retention. Further, Schlossberg (2011) built upon this concept utilizing her 4 S model to articulate the significance of support and strategies that individuals use to cope with and mitigate the challenges associated with periods of transition. Taken together, the transfer seminar course studied is seen as an interventional support and strategy aimed at improving the academic and social integration experience to potentially produce increased levels of success for transfer students.
The primary purpose of the current study was to measure the impact that a transfer seminar course had on individuals that participated in the course during their first semester of enrollment at the receiving institution, a large, public four-year state institution in the Southeastern United States. This quasi-experimental, quantitative study analyzed the impact of participation in a non-required transfer seminar course during the first semester of matriculation, post-transfer, and compared the grade point averages (GPA) and rates of persistence at the end of the first semester and first year with a matched sample of non-course participants to evaluate course impact. A total of 824 students, including 412 students in each of the treatment and control groups from Fall 2013 through Fall 2018 were evaluated utilizing descriptive and inferential statistical analyses.
The findings of the study revealed that the course participants exhibited a statistically significant difference in their GPA at the end of the first semester, but the difference in GPAs at the end of the first year had diminished and was non-statistically significant. The results further support that at the end of the first semester and at the end of the first year, rates of persistence were non-statistically significantly different for participants in comparison to non-participants. The conclusions presented suggest that the course provides only a short term positive gain for participants and may be most beneficial in assisting students transitioning into the new academic community, however, additional research is needed to identify resources, supports, strategies, and interventions that encourage greater levels of success over the long term period of matriculation through to graduation.