Date of Award
9-11-2024
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Educational Leadership, Ed.D.
First Advisor
Ibrahim Duyar
Committee Members
Ashley Buchman, Carroll Bronson
Call Number
LD 251 .A566d 2024 H69
Abstract
The current study examined hindering factors of 2-year community college students’ vertical transfer to 4-year colleges. The Rational Choice Theory guided the study and provided the scope of the problem, which is community college students' apprehension about transferring to 4-year colleges vertically. A quantitative Likert scale survey, which comprised demographic questions and measures of variable scales, was the data-gathering instrument. The measures of study variables were the College Persistence Questionnaire, the Student Financial Wellness Survey, the Academic Motivation Scale, and self-authored questions. The first three research questions of the study sought to explore whether apprehension to vertically transfer (RQ1), financial stress (RQ2), and commitment to a 4-year college degree (RQ3) differed by participants’ gender, race/ethnicity, and parental education. The fourth, fifth, and sixth research questions sought to examine the direct influence of fear/amotivation, debt/loan aversion, and extrinsic motivation on (RQ4) participants’ apprehension to transfer to a 4-year college (RQ5) financial stress and (RQ6) commitment to complete a 4-year college degree. The findings showed that the outcomes by race/ethnicity were statistically significant, suggesting that, on average, apprehension to transfer vertically, financial stress, and commitment to a 4-year college degree differed by race/ethnicity. Findings also suggests that, on average, apprehension to vertical transfer, financial stress, and commitment to a 4-year college degree did not differ by participant gender. Similar differences were shown in the study outcomes by parental education. On average, parental education differed regarding concerns about vertical transfer, financial stress, and commitment to a 4-year college degree. The implications of the findings were discussed. Implications for practice include fostering improved conveyance of information particularly to parents of Hispanic students to better promote college education as a key determinant in less financial stress. These parents should receive more information from elementary, middle school, and high school counselors and even college advisors that will help stress the importance of higher education and its positive effect on income. Implication for policy include policymakers creating policy that secures and maintains the tuition rate that a student enters for the duration of the degree, as opposed to it being raised every year. Or adopt a free tuition model that several states have in place. Finally, research implications include conducting a qualitative study regarding students' failure to vertically transfer before or after completing a credential at a 2-year college.
Rights Management
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Howard, Rahime-Malik, "The Examination of Hindering Factors of 2-Year Community College Students’ Vertical Transfer to 4-Year Colleges" (2024). Student Theses and Dissertations. 24.
https://arch.astate.edu/all-etd/24
