A partnership between the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and LSU Eunice is cited as a model in a new guide for improving transfer student success.
“The Transfer Playbook: Essential Practices for Two- and Four-Year Colleges,” profiles UL Lafayette and LSU Eunice, along with other institutions in five states that are improving outcomes for community college students who transfer to universities to earn bachelor’s degrees. The report was produced by the Aspen Institute’s College Excellence Program and the Community College Research Center at Teachers College, Columbia University.
“Our efforts have included designing the Ragin’ Cajun Bridge Program, developing 2+2 programs where students can earn UL Lafayette bachelor’s degrees on the Eunice campus, and maintaining clear communications between senior leaders at the two campuses,” said Dr. DeWayne Bowie, vice president for Enrollment Management at UL Lafayette.
LSU Eunice has two-year associate degree programs whose courses can be applied toward a bachelor’s degree at UL Lafayette.
The Ragin’ Cajun Bridge Program, established in 2014, gives students attending LSU Eunice – who plan to transfer to UL Lafayette – access to many campus benefits enjoyed by University students, such as access to Ragin’ Cajuns sporting events, Dupré Library, tutoring, career services, and academic advising.
Through the 2+2 program, UL Lafayette offers a bachelor’s degree program in elementary education that enables students to complete all four years of coursework on the LSU Eunice campus. University faculty travel to LSU Eunice to teach. “Each year, the UL Lafayette portion of the program enrolls approximately 20 students, many of whom live in Eunice and have children, which makes the hour-long commute to the UL Lafayette campus more difficult,” the report states.
A UL Lafayette academic advisor also meets with students once a week on the LSU Eunice campus to answer questions and make sure they take any tests needed to stay on track, such as PRAXIS certification exams.
According to “The Transfer Playbook,” 720,000 degree-seeking students across the nation entered community colleges in Fall 2007. Most intended to ultimately earn bachelor’s degrees. However, “only about 100,000, or 14 percent, transferred to a four-year college and earned a bachelor’s degree within six years.”
The report notes that “students who enter higher education through community colleges are much more likely than those who start at four-year institutions to be low-income or the first in their family to attend college.”
So, it continues, “the two- to four-year transfer process, when it functions well, represents a critical means for upward mobility across the United States."
Other partnerships between universities and community colleges featured in “The Transfer Playbook,” are:
• Colorado State University, Colorado Front Range Community College;
• Eastern Connecticut State University, Manchester Community College;
• Florida International University and Florida Atlantic University, Broward College;
• University of Massachusetts Amherst, Holyoke Community College; and
• University of Washington and Western Washington University, Everett Community College.
According to the report, those partnerships have three broad strategies in common. They “make transfer student success a priority, create clear programmatic pathways with aligned high-quality instruction;” and “provide tailored transfer student advising.”