2024 Collaborative Network for Engineering & Computing Diversity (CoNECD)

One of the issues at the heart of transfer is the mobility of credits across institutions—moving credits from one institution to another is a critical process for the transfer pathway to be a viable option. Credit loss is a critical issue for transfer students enrolled in highly sequential degrees, such as engineering. A student could be set back a year or more if they miss one required pre-requisite course at the time of transfer. Determining what credits transfer in engineering could help ease the transfer process, improve graduation rates, and broaden participation in engineering since the transfer pathway has been identified as a key strategy nationally to diversify the field. This study examines credit mobility of engineering transfer students in a comprehensive manner that extends what we know about engineering transfer student credit loss, specifically, but also conceptualizations of credit loss more broadly that extend the body of knowledge on transfer students more generally. We investigate the specific sources of credit loss (e.g., pre-community college, AS degree credit, transfer loss, and applied to degree loss) for engineering transfer students.

Credit loss is nuanced, and multiple data sources from across institutions are needed to dig into that nuance. Our data focuses on participants in an NSF-funded S-STEM grant, a collaboration between two community colleges and one large public research-intensive University. This study analyzes transcripts and degree audit reports from sending and receiving institutions to investigate how credit flows between institutions and where credit loss occurs at the time of transfer at the receiving institution. We created Sankey diagrams for each student to visualize how pre-transfer credit is applied to the associate degree, accepted at the receiving institution, and applied to the bachelor’s degree. At each stage, the Sankey diagram provides a visual representation of the sources of credit loss. Mobility of credit is complex, and so visualizations can provide a way to communicate transfer nuances.

We further what we know about credit loss for engineering transfer students by identifying the more specific sources of credit loss. Pre-College credits such as AP and Dual Enrollment may not entirely satisfy degree requirements at the community college or receiving institution. It is likely that students take these courses before knowing their major or postsecondary institution. Another reason for credit loss is the discrepancy of credits for individual courses. Finally, there are sources of credit loss for engineering transfer students that are not necessarily negative but provide an alternate route to earn a bachelor's degree ultimately. The findings indicate that anytime a student has a chance to earn post-secondary credit, they also run the risk of losing that credit. The Sankey diagrams not only show that students earn excess credits from all types of sources but allow all stakeholders to address credit loss in more specific parts. These new visualizations can help "bring to life" this issue in new ways, which will be useful in advancing policy and practice conversations.