Barriers and Opportunities for 2-Year and 4-Year STEM Degrees Systemic Change to Support Students' Diverse Pathways (2016) / Chapter Skim
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5 Institutional, State, and National Policies
5 Institutional, State, and National Policies
Pages 109-140
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From page 109... ...
• On average, the price a student pays for a STEM credential is higher than the price of a non-STEM credential, reflecting the relatively higher cost to institutions of producing a STEM credential, compared with a non-STEM credential. • Academic departments can smooth students' pathways to a STEM credential by developing inter-institutional agreements that simplify the transfer process and support transfer students, reducing course sequencing restrictions, reducing degree re quirements and prerequisites outside of the major, adjusting grading practices, and adopting creative solutions to improve and reduce the need for remedial courses.
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From page 110... ...
In this chapter, we discuss the institutional and systemic factors that affect transfer policies and costs. Since transfer policies and degree costs are connected to institutional, state, and national policies and practices that affect all students, not just those in STEM fields, this chapter includes discussion of the broader policy context.
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From page 111... ...
found that many students transferring from community colleges lose credits because the credits are not approved by the 4-year institution. In their study sample, 14 percent of transfer students had less than 10 percent of their credits accepted, and only 58 percent of transfer students had more than 90 percent of their credits accepted.
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From page 112... ...
The other 45 states have some statewide and systemwide transfer policies, although they vary greatly (Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education, 2014)
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From page 113... ...
. Components often include a common core of general education requirements, common major-specific courses, common course numbering systems, guaranteed junior status for students who earned a 2-year degree from a community college, online access to transfer and degree program information, upper limits on the number of required credits for associate or baccalaureate degrees, and guaranteed or priority admission for transfer students (Kisker et al., 2011)
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From page 114... ...
Community college students in those states had greater flexibility and options than in other states. Transferring to any of the participating colleges within the same degree program was easier for students than when articulation agreements were reached on an institution-to-institution basis.
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From page 115... ...
The available research indicates that statewide transfer policies, including a common general education core and transfer associate's degrees, represent an opportunity for increasing the number of students who complete degrees at 4-year institutions and for other positive outcomes as well. A roadmap of sorts is thus available to policy makers in other states who wish to pursue programs to help transfer students and save money.
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From page 116... ...
, which depends on departmental transfer policies, has shown some success in supporting transfer students seeking a STEM degree. The program's primary mission is to increase bachelor's degree attainment by capitalizing on the existing collaborative relationships between FIU and its local and regional transfer feeder institutions.
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From page 117... ...
INSTITUTIONAL PROGRAMS TO FACILITATE TRANSFERS AND ASSIST STEM STUDENTS Although most professionals in higher education would agree that forging partnerships between 2-year and 4-year institutions is valuable to smooth the transition for transfer students and enhance their opportunities for success are important goals, actual implementation may prove challenging. Challenges include the different cultures and missions of 2-year and 4-year colleges, perceived competition for students, and geographic separation.
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From page 118... ...
The report also encouraged 4-year institutions to make work-study positions available to transfer students. One example of a college that is taking steps to smooth the transfer process is the Onondaga Community College Regional Higher Education Center in New York, which hosts numerous colleges offering bachelor's and master's degree programs.4 Some of the 4-year colleges that partner with Onondaga Community College offer joint degree programs.
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From page 119... ...
providing community college students access to extensive research experiences; (5) developing a transfer bridge program for community college students transitioning to Northeastern University; and (6)
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From page 120... ...
This 3-hour program occurs the Friday prior to the beginning of the fall and spring semesters. Peer mentors are successful transfer students with grade point averages of 3.5 or higher who lead each of the three 1-hour programs describing FEDERAL AND STATE PROGRAMS TO FACILITATE TRANSFRS AND ASSIST STEM STUDENTS There are a number of federal and state programs that support efforts to promote the success of STEM students who transfer among institutions.
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From page 121... ...
In 2012, ATE projects and centers supported development of articulation agreements that helped 2,410 students transfer between 2-year and 4-year institutions. The NSF's Louis Stokes Alliances 9 See http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?
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From page 122... ...
found that veterans currently represent about 4 percent of all undergraduates. Of those veterans, 38 percent attend 2-year public institutions, 23 percent attend private for-profit institutions, 19 percent attend 4-year public institutions, and 10 percent attend private nonprofit institutions.
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From page 123... ...
In this section, we describe what is known and not known about the price students pay for STEM degrees relative to other degrees; the cost of delivering STEM degrees relative to non-STEM degrees; and the extent to which differences in tuition price between STEM and non-STEM fields affect demand for STEM majors or completion of STEM degrees. When data are available, these topics are examined for underrepresented minority groups in STEM fields (Hispanics, blacks, Native Americans)
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From page 124... ...
More research is needed to clarify the relationship among financial need, degree completion, and other related factors. Price to the Student of a Degree Determining and evaluating the price to the student of a college education are complex due to variations in costs across institution types, across states, and sometimes even within institutions (due to differential tuition, discussed below)
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From page 125... ...
, the average net price for a STEM degree ranged from $7,800 for underrepre sented minority students at a public 4-year institution to nearly $30,000 for students not from an underrepresented minority group at a private research
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From page 126... ...
and because they attend institutions with lower price tags, including minority-serving institutions, community colleges, and less-selective 4-year institutions. The net price for underrepresented minority students who attended public research universities was slightly less than $10,000 (Kirshstein, 2013b)
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From page 127... ...
However, the average price for a STEM degree in the 2007–2008 academic year was still higher than the price of a non-STEM degree 6 years later (The College Board, 2014)
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From page 128... ...
In all types of private institutions, nonminority students were more likely than minority students to be debt free. Again, the largest disparity between underrepresented minority students and other stu dents in amount of debt is in public bachelor's institutions: only 6 percent of students from underrepresented minority groups graduate with no debt, in comparison with 39 percent of other students.
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From page 129... ...
The inclusion of classes taken beyond those required, a situation often experienced by students who transfer institutions, increases costs by 12 percent, to an average of $50,700. The upper estimate includes all of the education and related costs that institutions incur (including credit hours required for a degree, credits that exceed degree requirements, student attrition, and course offerings for nondegree-seeking students)
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From page 130... ...
The expectation for the future is that students attending public institutions will continue to pay a larger share of their educational costs. An analysis by the College Board (2014)
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From page 131... ...
indicate that most STEM degrees (other than psychology and the social sciences) cost more for institutions to produce than non-STEM degrees (Kirshstein, 2013b; see Figure 5-7)
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From page 132... ...
Differential Tuition and STEM The convention of charging all undergraduates the same price for fulltime study is changing. The enactment of differential pricing practices in which students are charged more tuition for upper- versus lower-division coursework, for example, has grown steadily since the mid-1990s and shows no sign of abating (Cornell Higher Education Research Institute, 2011)
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From page 133... ...
As discussed above, although there are limited national data on the cost of a degree at the discipline level, the best available data suggest that institutions are likely to incur more costs to deliver STEM degrees. Engineering, business, and nursing are currently the three degrees most often targeted for differential pricing.
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From page 134... ...
DEPARTMENTAL POLICIES THAT CAN AFFECT THE COST OF STEM DEGREES A department's policies, including sequencing of courses, degree requirements and prerequisites outside of the major, grading policies, and remedial course work, can affect the price that a student pays for a STEM degree. Rigid course sequencing of many majors can increase the cost that a student pays for a STEM degree.
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From page 135... ...
For example, the 10 community colleges that comprise the U.S. Department of Labor funded National STEM Consortium (NSC)
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From page 136... ...
Research to date suggests that changing policies to increase the transfer of community college course credits could have significant positive effects on student retention and degree completion. Strong articulation agreements among 2-year and 4-year institutions, including common general education requirements, common introductory courses with common numbering, and easily available access to information on course equivalencies across institutions, can improve the percentage of courses transferred and student success.
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From page 137... ...
Paper prepared for the Committee on Barriers and Opportunities in Complet ing 2-Year and 4-Year STEM Degrees. Available: http://sites.nationalacademies.org/cs/ groups/ bassesite/documents/webpage/dbasse_072578.pdf [April 2015]
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From page 138... ...
Presentation at the second meeting of the Committee on Barriers and Opportunities in Completing 2-Year and 4-Year STEM Degrees, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC.
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From page 139... ...
. Comparing the educational attainment of community college transfer students and four-year rising juniors using propensity score matching methods.
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From page 140... ...
. Community college transfer students: A case study of survival.
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