IR-FY2013-Graduate-Transfer-Experience-Report

• The top five transfer institutions were Ramapo College of New Jersey, William Paterson University, MontclairState University, Rutgers; The State University of New Jersey, and the New J

The Graduate Transfer Experience Report

February 2014

Table of Contents

Executive Summary 1

The Survey 1

The Respondents 1

The Transfer Experience 2

Introduction 3

The Survey Questions 3

Section 1: The Respondents 4

Degrees Received from BCC 4

Transfer Institutions 6

Transfer Degrees 8

Current Enrollment Status 9

Section 2: The Transfer Experience 11

Credits Accepted by Transfer Institution 11

Credits Needed to Complete Transfer Degree 12

General Education Requirements 14

Accepted Bergen Courses 15

Appendix A: BCC Degree by Transfer Institution Degree 16

Appendix B: Additional Comments 17

Positive Comments 17

Neutral Comments 19

Negative Comments 20

Executive Summary

The Survey

• A ten-question survey was sent to 2,345 FY2012 and FY2013 graduates of Bergen Community College who hadtransferred to a four-year institution

• A web link to an online survey was sent out to the students’ school and personal email addresses and 203

responses were collected

• The students were asked questions about their current institution, their current degree program, the number

of credits they had transferred from BCC, the number of credits they have left to complete, general educationrequirements, and any courses that were not accepted while transferring

The Respondents

• The 203 respondents graduated from 40

different programs Forty percent of these were

A.S degrees, 35% were A.A.S degrees, and 25%

were A.A degrees

• The General Natural Sciences (AS) degree was the

most popular with 61 graduates among the

respondents (30.0%), this was followed by the

General Liberal Arts (AA) degree (36 respondents,

17.7%), and the Business Administration (AS)

degree (11 respondents, 5.4%)

• The respondents transferred to 36 different

colleges and universities

• Fifteen of the transfer institutions were located in New Jersey while 21 were out-of-state However, despitefewer in-state schools, the number of respondents who stayed in New Jersey (174) was six times more than thenumber of respondents who left the state (28)

• The top five transfer institutions were Ramapo College of New Jersey, William Paterson University, MontclairState University, Rutgers; The State University of New Jersey, and the New Jersey Institute of Technology

Transfer Institution # of Transfers %

Ramapo College of New Jersey 39 22.4% William Paterson University 33 19.0% Montclair State University 32 18.4% Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey 30 17.2% New Jersey Institute of Technology 9 5.2%

Associate

of Arts 25%

Associate

of Science 40%

Associate

of Applied Science 35%

Degrees Received from BCC

The Transfer Experience

• One hundred of the respondents (49.8%) had between 61 to 70 BCC credits accepted by their transfer

• One hundred and sixty-one respondents (80.5%) were not required to retake a general education requirement

Of the 39 students who had to retake a General Education course, 11 went to Ramapo College

• One hundred and thirty-eight respondents (69.0%) were able to successfully transfer over every class they had taken at BCC Sixty-two students (31.0%) had BCC courses rejected at their transfer institutions

• The majority of rejected courses were science and math classes including Statistics (6 rejected courses),

Intermediate Accounting (5 rejected courses), Biology (4 rejected courses), and Chemistry (3 rejected courses)

Credits Accepted by Top Transfer Schools

More than 70 Credits

61 to 70 Credits

50 to 60 CreditsLess than 50 Credits

• The respondents who majored in some form ofBusiness Administration at BCC (BusinessAdministration (AS), Banking and Finance (AAS),Accounting (AAS), or Accounting (AS)) saw a highlevel of consistency as 22 out of 26 of thoserespondents pursued degrees in either Accounting orBusiness Administration upon transferring to theirfour-year institution

• One hundred and seventy-five of the respondents(87.1%) were still enrolled in the same school andsame major at the time of the survey Twelve hadgraduated, 2 had left without graduating, and 12switched to a different program in the sameinstitution

Still Enrolled Graduated

from Program Left withoutCompleting

Degree

Switched toDifferentProgram

Current Enrollment Status

Introduction

In December 2013, a ten-question survey was sent to FY2012 and FY2013 graduates of Bergen Community College who had transferred to a four-year institution according to data from the National Student Clearing House The goal of this questionnaire was to garner feedback on the transfer experience of BCC graduates In total, the survey was sent to 2,345 graduates who received an Associate degree from BCC, whether it was an Associate of Applied Science degree (AAS), an Associate of Arts degree (AA), an Associate of Fine Arts degree (AFA), or an Associate of Science degree (AS) A web link

to an online survey was sent out to the students’ school and personal email addresses and 203 responses were collected (8.7% response rate) These responses were then analyzed and are presented to the BCC community in the form of this report

The Survey Questions

1 What degree did you receive from Bergen Community College?

2 In what four-year college did you enroll after completing your degree at Bergen Community College?

3 In what degree did you enroll at your transfer institution?

4 Are you still enrolled in this program?

a Yes, I am still currently enrolled in this program

b No, I have graduated from this program and received my degree

c No, I have left my transfer institution without completing a degree

d No, I am at the same institution but have switched to a different program (please identify below)

5 Approximately how many credits completed at Bergen were accepted by your transfer institution?

6 When you transferred to your four-year institution, approximately how many credits did you need to completeyour program?

7 Were there any General Education course requirements you completed at Bergen that you were required toretake at your four-year institution?

a No

b Yes (Please identify which courses)

8 Were there any courses you completed at Bergen that were not accepted at your four-year institution?

a No

b Yes (Please specify)

9 Please provide your name (optional)

10 Please use the space below to provide any additional comments you may have regarding your transfer

experience between Bergen Community College and your current institution

Section 1: The Respondents

Degrees Received from BCC

Before delving into the transfer experience, it is important to first identify the transfer students who took the survey

The first question that was asked on the survey was “What degree did you receive from Bergen Community College?”

The students were given a drop-down menu with all of the active programs offered at BCC and asked to select the one in which they had received a degree Figure 1 shows the breakdown of BCC degrees into types while Table 1 shows the breakdown of the specific degrees earned by the respondents

• The General Natural Sciences (AS) degree was the most popular major (61 respondents, 30%)

• The General Liberal Arts (AA) degree was the second most popular with 36 graduates (17.7%) and the Business

Administration degree was third with 11 graduates (5.4%)

• Of the 40 programs reported, 10 were Associate of Arts degrees, 16 were Associate of Science degrees, and 14 wereAssociate of Applied Science degrees (Criminal Justice counted toward both the A.S and A.A.S totals)

Associate of Arts 25%

Associate of Science 40%

Associate of Applied Science 35%

Figure 1: Degree Types Received from BCC

Table 1: Degrees Received from Bergen Community College

General Liberal Arts (AA) 36 17.7% Exercise Science (AS) 3 1.5% General Natural Sciences (AS) 61 30.0% Graphic Design (AAS) 2 1.0% General Professional Studies (AS)* 9 4.4% Health Science (AAS) 1 0.5%

Biology (AS) 3 1.5% Event Planning and Mgmt (AAS) 1 0.5% Broadcasting (AS) 1 0.5% Information Technology (AAS) 2 1.0%

Accounting (AS) 9 4.4% Paralegal Studies (AAS) 1 0.5% Banking and Finance (AAS) 3 1.5% Literature (AA) 1 0.5% Business Administration (AS) 11 5.4% Mathematics (AS) 2 1.0% International Trade (AS) 2 1.0% Nursing, Day (AAS) 6 3.0% Management (AS) 5 2.5% Nursing, Evening (AAS) 4 2.0%

Cinema Studies (AA) 1 0.5% Political Science (AA) 2 1.0% Communications (AA) 1 0.5% Psychology (AA) 6 3.0% Computer Science (AS) 1 0.5% Radiography (AAS) 1 0.5% Criminal Justice (AS,AAS) 2 1.0% Social Sciences (AA) 2 1.0%

Electronics Technology (AAS) 1 0.5% Veterinary Technology (AAS) 1 0.5%

*On the survey form, AS.PS.GEN, General Professional Studies (AS), was mislabeled as General Public Service (AS)

Transfer Institutions

The respondents were asked to identify the institution they transferred to after completing their degree at Bergen Community College Two hundred and two respondents wrote in 36 different colleges and universities Fifteen of these institutions were located in New Jersey while 21 were out-of-state Despite fewer in-state schools, the number of respondents who stayed in New Jersey (174) vastly outnumbered those who did not (28) as seen in Figure 2 Table 2 shows the breakdown of the specific transfer institutions

• The school with the most transfers, in-state or out-of-state, was Ramapo College of New Jersey with 39 respondents

• Ramapo was followed by William Paterson University (33), Montclair State University (32) and Rutgers; The State University of New Jersey (30)

• With 4 respondents, New York University topped the list of out-of-state transfer institutions

• Eighty-six percent of the respondents stayed in-state, six times more than those who went out-of-state

In-state Transfers Out-of-state Transfers

Figure 2: In-state vs Out-of-state Transfers

Table 2: Transfer Institutions Transfer Institution Freq %

In-state Transfers 174 86.1%

Out-of-state Transfers 28 13.9%

New Jersey Transfer Institution Freq % Out-of-state Transfer Institution Freq %

Fairleigh Dickinson University 8 4.6% Baruch College 2 7.1%

Montclair State University 32 18.4% Chaminade University of Honolulu 1 3.6% New Jersey City University 7 4.0% Drexel University 1 3.6% New Jersey Institute of Technology 9 5.2% Hunter College 2 7.1% Ramapo College of New Jersey 39 22.4% John Jay College 1 3.6% Rowan University 1 0.6% Johnson and Wales College 1 3.6% Rutgers; The State University of NJ 30 17.2% Lehman College 2 7.1% Saint Peter's University 1 0.6% Marist College 1 3.6%

Stevens Institute of Technology 2 1.1% New York University 4 14.3% Thomas Edison State College 2 1.1% St John's University 1 3.6% William Paterson University 33 19.0% The George Washington University 1 3.6%

University of Illinois, Chicago 1 3.6% University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill 1 3.6% University of Texas, Arlington 2 7.1% University of Vermont 1 3.6% Utah Valley University 1 3.6%

Transfer Degrees

In order to see how degrees awarded at BCC translated into degrees pursued at transfer institutions, the five BCC

degrees with the most respondents were examined The students were asked to write in their transfer degrees, which were later grouped into 12 categories Table 3 shows the crosswalk between the five BCC degrees and the degree categories the respondents enrolled in at their transfer institutions To see the full list of transfer degrees organized into these 12 categories, see Appendix A

Table 3: Crosswalk between BCC Degree and Transfer Institution Degree

*On the survey form, AS.PS.GEN, General Professional Studies (AS), was mislabeled as General Public Service (AS)

• Of the 61 respondents who graduated from BCC with a degree in General Natural Sciences (AS), 17 (27.9%)

remained within the Natural Sciences and Math field upon transferring while 7 (11.5%) switched to a more Liberal Arts based major and 5 (8.2%) pursued Nursing

• The General Professional Studies (AS) graduates saw no consistency in transfer majors as none of the areas had more than 2 students in it

• The Business Administration (AS) and Accounting (AS) programs saw the most consistency as 8 of the 11 Business Administration (AS) respondents (72.8%) remained in Business Administration or Accounting and 9 out of 9

Accounting (AS) students remained in Business Administration or Accounting

Business Administration 4 6.6% Business Administration 2 5.6% Business Administration 4 36.4%

Fine and Performing Arts 2 3.3% Fine and Performing Arts 0 0.0% Fine and Performing Arts 0 0.0% Information Technology 0 0.0% Information Technology 0 0.0% Information Technology 0 0.0%

Natural Sciences and Math 17 27.9% Natural Sciences and Math 3 8.3% Natural Sciences and Math 0 0.0%

General Natural Sciences (AS) General Liberal Arts (AA) Business Administration (AS)

Fine and Performing Arts 1 11.1% Fine and Performing Arts 0 0.0%

Information Technology 0 0.0% Information Technology 0 0.0%

Natural Sciences and Math 0 0.0% Natural Sciences and Math 0 0.0%

Current Enrollment Status

The students were asked to explain their current enrollment status at their transfer institution and in their transfer program; whether they were still enrolled, graduated, left, or transferred to a different program Table 4 shows the breakdown of this question If the respondents had switched to another program, they were asked to provide the name

of that new program Table 5 shows the program they transferred out of as well as the program into which they

switched Unlike Table 3, the transfer programs in Table 5 are not grouped into categories; they are the actual program names that the respondents wrote down during the survey

Table 4: Current Enrollment Status

Still Enrolled 175 87.1%

Graduated from Program 12 6.0%

Left without Completing Degree 2 1.0%

Switched to Different Program 12 6.0%

Table 5: Respondents Who Switched Programs

Hunter College Political Science Psychology

Montclair State University B.A., Studio Concentration Painting

Montclair State University Nutrition Food and Dietetics Biology

Montclair State University B.S Education

Ramapo College of New Jersey B.S.W Social Science

Ramapo College of New Jersey B.S.W Social Science

Ramapo College of New Jersey Business Administration Psychology

University of Illinois Chicago B.S., Liberal Arts and Sciences Economics

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill B.S Comparative Literature

William Paterson University B.S., Biology Exercise Science

William Paterson University Communications Education

William Paterson University Psychology Sociology

• Of the 201 respondents, 175 (87.1%) were still enrolled in the same school and same major at the time of the survey Only 2 (1.0%) had left without completing their degree, while 12 switched to a different program

• Of the 12 students who switched majors after entering their transfer institution, 9 went to NJ Institutions; Montclair (3), Ramapo (3), and William Paterson (3)

A Transfer’s Perspective:

“The process of transferring from Bergen was more tedious than anticipated By this, I mean to say that the offices involved in the sending of transcripts were inadequately supervised and the communication between offices at

Bergen was less than satisfactory.”

-Current Comparative Literature major at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Table 6 shows the breakdown of the 12 students who reported they had already graduated from their transfer degree program Like Table 5, the transfer programs in Table 6 are not grouped into categories; they are the actual program names the respondents provided on the survey

Table 6: Respondents Who Graduated from Their Transfer Institution

Berkeley College B.S., Accounting

Fairleigh Dickinson University Master’s Degree in Public Administration

Montclair State University B.A., Psychology

Montclair State University B.S., Business Management

Ramapo College of New Jersey B.S., Digital Filmmaking

Rutgers; The State University of New Jersey B.S., Business - Accounting/Supply Chain Management Rutgers; The State University of New Jersey Political Science

Seton Hall University Business Administration, Criminal Justice

William Paterson University B.A., Communications

William Paterson University B.S., Marketing

William Paterson University B.A., Criminal Justice

William Paterson University B.A., English Literature

• Of the 12 respondents who graduated from their transfer institution at the time of the survey, 4 attended WilliamPaterson University while 2 each attended Rutgers and Montclair

• The breakdown of the degrees awarded was as follows; 5 reported B.S degrees, 4 reported B.A degrees, and 1reported a Master’s Degree

A Transfer’s Perspective:

“Transferring was very easy, and I'm currently taking the 9 credits I'll need to finish my B.A.”

–Current Psychology major at Thomas Edison State College