2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

This research paper, we utilized secondary, state-wide longitudinal data to examine the extent to which student-influenced and institution-influenced factors predict the academic performance and degree completion of engineering technology transfer students at public four-year institutions in North Carolina. Two-year institutions are a vital pathway in meeting the demand of a highly skill workforce and serves as a means to broaden the participation in engineering careers that have been historically overrepresented by White men. However, the literature on engineering technology transfer student success and baccalaureate degree attainment remains sparse. To address this gap in literature, we will utilize a dataset that includes students who transferred from community colleges to pursue baccalaureate degrees in engineering technology programs at UNC System institutions from 2009 to 2016. Based on the data structure, regression analyses will be utilized to examine the factors that predict first-semester academic performance and persistence to degree attainment at the receiving institution. The hierarchical organization of student-influenced factors, institution-influenced factors, and factors influenced by both were based on a modified version of Smith and Van Aken’s (2020) literature-based conceptual framework on engineering transfer student persistence. Our study found that academic performance and baccalaureate degree attainment are a function of student and institutional characteristics for engineering technology transfer students. Further, our study generated practical and actionable findings that will aid four-year engineering institutions in increasing the academic success and persistence of vertical transfer students pursuing baccalaureate engineering technology degrees.