[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-590308-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":81,"doc-detail-590308-en":131},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":74,"head_meta":76,"extra_data":78,"updated_unix":80},105,"en","tracking-vertical-transfer-students-credits-changes-in-applicability","Tracking Vertical Transfer Students’ Credits - Changes in Applicability","","Low bachelor’s degree receipt rates among community college students have been linked to credit loss from vertical transfer, but prior work has offered limited quantitative evidence on how transfer affects degree-requirement applicability of earned credits. Using a novel student record archive, the study tracks 796 vertical transfer students’ credits before and through transfer. Findings show credit applicability can change multiple times, transfer can be associated with credits becoming degree-applicable, and articulation between associate and bachelor’s programs supports applicable credit and course transfer.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/tracking-vertical-transfer-students-credits-changes-in-applicability/590308/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/tracking-vertical-transfer-students-credits-changes-in-applicability/590308.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Pentious","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-31","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",11,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"What does the study examine regarding vertical transfer?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"It examines how credits earned in community college-to-bachelor’s vertical transfer relate to changes in how applicable those credits are to degree requirements.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"How did the researchers study changes in credit applicability?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"The study uses a novel student record archive to track a targeted sample of 796 vertical transfer students’ credits before and through transfer.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"What major patterns were found about degree-requirement applicability?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"Credits can move in and out of degree applicability at multiple points in a student’s career, not only in connection with transfer.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},590308,1792123015,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,92,96,101,106,111,115,120,123,127],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":89,"show_sort_weight":90,"slug":91},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":93,"show_sort_weight":94,"slug":95},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":97,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":98,"show_sort_weight":99,"slug":100},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":102,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":103,"show_sort_weight":104,"slug":105},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":107,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":108,"show_sort_weight":109,"slug":110},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":112,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":113,"slug":114},8,30,"research-report",{"id":116,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":117,"show_sort_weight":118,"slug":119},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":118,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":121,"show_sort_weight":118,"slug":122},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":124,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":125,"show_sort_weight":124,"slug":126},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":128,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":129,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":130},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":132},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":133,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":134,"doc_module":4,"category_id":112,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":135,"file_id":136,"file_url":137,"file_type":138,"file_size":139,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":128,"language":140,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145,"preview_page_count":4},1374404730887,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_6f874abed73319feea01a86fa6f0fab8","AERA Open  \nJanuary-December 2025, Vol. 11, No. 1, pp. 1–19 DOI: 10. 1177/23328584251355515  \nArticle reuse guidelines: [sagepub.com/journals-permissions](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[ ](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)© The Author(s) 2025. [https://journals.sagepub.com/home/ero](https://journals.sagepub.com/home/ero)  \nTracking Vertical Transfer Students’ Credits: Changes in Applicability  \nto Degree Requirements  \nA. W. Logue  \nNayeon Yoo  \nYoshiko Oka  \nKerstin Gentsch  \nChristopher Buonocore  \nMark Casazza  \nColin Chellman  \nDavid Wutchiett  \nCity University of New York  \nLow bachelor’s degree receipt rates by community college students have been attributed to credit loss arising from vertical transfer. However, there has been limited quantitative study of the association of transfer with credits’ degree-requirement applicability. This research used a novel student record archive to track the degree-requirement applicability of a targeted sample of 796 vertical transfer students’credits prior to and through transfer. The results show that credits can move in and out of degree applicability at multiple points in a student’s career, not just associated with transfer, that transfer sometimes can be associated with vertical transfer students’ credits becoming degree-requirement applicable, and that articulation between associate and bachelor’s programs can be associated with degree-applicable credit and course transfer. These results can help guide policies that will maximize students’ efficient accumulation of degree-applicable credits.  \nKeywords: colleges, community colleges, equity, higher education, postsecondary education, longitudinal studies, regression analyses, vertical transfer, credit applicability, associate degree, bachelor’s degree  \nIntroduction  \nMuch concern has been expressed about the leaks in the vertical transfer student pipeline, the pipeline from enrollment in an associate program (in a community college) to attainment of a bachelor’s degree. In a recent national study,~80% of community college students reported seeking at least a bachelor’s degree (CCCSE, 2023), but in another study, only ~16% achieved that goal within 6 years, with lower values for students from underrepresented groups (Velasco et al., 2024) . The leaks in this pipeline are unfortunate given that the median annual salary of bachelor’s degree holders is about $15,000 higher than that of those with associate degrees (Ma et al., 2019), and [that U.S. jobs](that U.S. jobs) will increasingly require postsecondary education (Carnevale et al., 2023) . Given that 41% of U.S. postsecondary students are enrolled in community colleges (close to 9 million students; Community College Research Center, n.d.), hundreds of thousands of U.S. prospective vertical transfer students are not attaining their educational and employment goals, particularly students from underrepresented groups.  \nThe possible cause of the leaks in the vertical transfer pipeline that has received the most attention is what has been called credit loss. This is a general term that has been used by almost all studies until recently to refer to any credits earned in associate programs that do not transfer to bachelor’s programs (see, e.g., Government Accountability Office [GAO], 2017; Monaghan & Attewell, 2015) . Credit loss results in students having to take more total credits than are needed for their bachelor’s degrees, a waste of time and money. Therefore, many states (e.g., California, Florida, North Carolina, and Texas) have passed legislation or enacted policies to try to ensure that associate program credits transfer to bachelor’s programs, including automatic transfer of a core oflower-division general education coursesand/or specific major courses (i.e., articulation agreements; Whinnery & Peisach, 2022). This study examined credit loss in detail, including different types of credit loss.  \nThe equity implications of any type of credit loss are substantial. Communi","cbCainjTyxp2UgNp","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCainjTyxp2UgNp","pdf",636145,"English","# Introduction\n## Vertical transfer and credit loss\n## Equity implications of lost credits\n# Article Methods and Findings\n## Study design using student record archive\n## Changes in credit applicability over the student career\n## Role of articulation agreements","[{\"question\":\"What does the study examine regarding vertical transfer?\",\"answer\":\"It examines how credits earned in community college-to-bachelor’s vertical transfer relate to changes in how applicable those credits are to degree requirements.\"},{\"question\":\"How did the researchers study changes in credit applicability?\",\"answer\":\"The study uses a novel student record archive to track a targeted sample of 796 vertical transfer students’ credits before and through transfer.\"},{\"question\":\"What major patterns were found about degree-requirement applicability?\",\"answer\":\"Credits can move in and out of degree applicability at multiple points in a student’s career, not only in connection with transfer.\"}]","Tracking Vertical Transfer Students’ Credits - Changes in Applicability | PDF",1792069301,48]