Table 5 Findings on characteristics of students, their families, and their communities

Race/ethnicity

Filipino and Hawaiian students are less likely to transfer than White and Japanese students.

Libarios (2013)^†

African American and Hispanic students comprise low proportions of non-transfer engineering students. Hispanic students highly represented in the transfer population.

Knight et al. (2014)^†

African American and Hispanic students experience negative effects on general outcomes while Asian student experience positive effects.

Nutting (2011)

Gender

Being a female student correlates with positive student outcomes.

Gross et al. (2014), Libarios (2013)^†, Nutting (2011)

Female students are less likely than males to intend to transfer into a STEM major.

Myers et al. (2015)^†

Age

Increases in age of student negatively impact student outcomes.

Gross et al. (2014), Hooshangi et al. (2015)*^†, Knight et al. (2014)^†, LaSota and Zumeta (2016)^†, Libarios (2013)^†, Myers (2013)^†, Nutting (2011), Wood et al. (2012),

Increases in age of student positively impact students’ intention to transfer into a STEM major.

Myers et al. (2015)^†

Start at 2-year

Enrolling in community college as first postsecondary institution correlates negatively with students’ STEM baccalaureate success.

Wang (2015)^†

Completion of an Associate Degree or Certificate may correlate positively with student outcomes if the completion of the degree does not significantly delay student progress.

Mooring and Mooring (2016), Nutting (2011)

Choosing to enroll at the 4-year campus nearest to a student’s 2-year campus correlates negatively with student outcomes.

Nutting (2011)

Citizenship status

Non-US resident students have better outcomes than citizens.

Nutting (2011)

Preparation

Lower academic preparedness of incoming students negatively impacts student outcomes.

Alexander et al.(2007), Prado (2012)

Enrollment in developmental coursework correlates negatively with student outcomes.

Crisp and Delgado (2014), Gross et al. (2014), LaSota and Zumeta (2016)^†

Higher GPAs correlate positively with student outcomes.

Chen and Soldner (2013)^†, Griffin (2010), Gross et al. (2014), LaSota and Zumeta (2016)^†, Laugerman and Shelley (2013)^†, Laugerman et al. (2015)^†, Marra et al. (2015)^†, Mooring and Mooring (2016), Nutting (2011)

Higher high school GPAs correlate positively with student outcomes.

Knight et al. (2014)^†, Nora (1987), Wood et al. (2012)

Higher SAT scores correlate positively with student outcomes.

Libarios (2013)^†

Student’s surrounding geography or institution

The level of education in the area surrounding a college correlates with a lower rate of transfer among Latinx community college students.

Budd and Stowers (2015)

Higher average transfer-out rate of institution correlates positively with student outcomes.

LaSota and Zumeta (2016)^†

Gross state product correlates positively with student outcomes.

LaSota and Zumeta (2016)^†

2-year institutions with higher percentages of African American students exhibit lower transfer rates. Those with higher proportions of students under the age of 25 exhibit higher transfer rates.

Wassmer et al. (2004)

Increases in county population density indicating an “urban” environment correlates positively with transfer rates of 2-year institutions in that country.

Wassmer et al. (2004)

English competency

Lower English language competency negatively impacts student outcomes.

Alexander et al. (2007), Lee (2014)

Students for whom English is their first language are less likely to transfer.

Libarios (2013)^†

Students for whom English is not their first language are more likely to intend to transfer into a STEM major.

Myers et al. (2015)^†

Enrollment in English developmental coursework correlates negatively with student outcomes.

Crisp and Delgado (2014)

First-generation

Lack of familiarity with higher education (e.g., first-generation students) negatively impacts student outcomes.

Lee (2014), Martin (2013)^†, Matos (2015), Ramirez (2011), Sanchez (2012)*, Sayasenh (2012)

Lack of a clear sense regarding relevance of higher education negatively impacts student outcomes.

Alexander et al. (2007), Coley (2015)^†, Prado (2012)

First-generation college student status correlates negatively with student outcomes.

LaSota and Zumeta (2016)^†, Wood et al. (2012)

Increased levels of parents’ education positively impact student outcomes.

Del Rio (2013), Griffin (2010), Knight et al. (2014)^†, Myers (2013)^†, Nora (1987)

Family support

Family support, one of six types of community cultural wealth capital (Yosso, 2005), correlates positively with student outcomes.

Barbosa and Seton Hall University (2011), Dorame (2012), Jackson (2013b)^†, Matos (2015), Sayasenh (2012), Zhang (2015)^†

Encouragement from students’ families correlates positively with student outcomes.

Nora (1987), Nora et al. (1997)

Finances

Limited financial resources negatively impact student outcomes.

Alexander et al. (2007), Anderson et al. (2011)^†, Dorame (2012), Lee (2014), Patterson (2011)^†, Sanchez (2012)*, Sayasenh (2012), Packard et al. (2012)^†

Strained personal finances correlates negatively with student outcomes.

Griffin (2010), Kruse (2015)^†, Myers et al. (2015)^†

Single parent status, having dependent children or having a spouse correlates negatively with student outcomes.

Griffin (2010), Wood et al. (2012)

Financial aid correlates positively with student outcomes.

Gross et al. (2014), Kruse (2015)^†

Goals

Students’ academic and professional goals coupled with hard work and determination increased persistence in writing courses at a single institution.

Villarreal (2012)*

Highest level of education student expects to complete correlates positively with student outcomes.

Griffin (2010), Myers (2013)^†, Myers et al. (2015)^†

Students who enroll with the intention of transferring are more likely to transfer to a 4-year institution.

LaSota and Zumeta (2016)^†, Myers et al. (2015)^†

Level of student commitment to institution or goal correlates positively with student outcomes.

McCool (1984), Nora (1987), Nora et al. (1997), Solis (1995)

Credits

Increases in credits attained or attempted within a specific time frame correlates positively with student outcomes.

Doyle (2009), Gross et al. (2014), Laugerman and Shelley (2013)^†, Laugerman et al. (2015)^†, McCool (1984), Nutting (2011)

Increases in credits student transfers toward basic program correlate positively with student outcomes.

Laugerman and Shelley (2013)^†, Laugerman et al. (2015)^†

Enrolling full-time correlates with an increase in likelihood student transfer.

LaSota and Zumeta (2016)^†

STEM

Successful completion of STEM courses correlates positively with student outcomes.

Chen and Soldner (2013)^†, Kruse (2015)^†, Myers et al. (2015)^†, Wang (2015)^†

Student’s STEM aspirations correlate positively with their intent to persist.

Myers (2013)^†

Majoring in STEM correlates positively with likelihood of student transfer relative to students majoring in business and those who are “undeclared.”

LaSota and Zumeta (2016)^†