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This paper1 addresses transfer disparities among students in the community college, conceptualizing these disparities as an achievement gap. Nevarez and Wood refer to these inequities in student success rates in the community college as the "community college achievement gap." They define the "community college achievement gap as, "pervasive success disparities among students on academic performance indicators (i.e., rates for enrollment, remediation, retention/persistence, graduation, and transfer)" (73). This study sought to construct a model depicting background factors associated with low-transfer rates in the community college.
Transfer remains an integral function of the community college system, among many other functions (e.g., terminal degrees, remediation, continuing education). However, there has been increasing criticism of educators and policymakers as a result of the declining percentage of students who intend to transfer and the growing percentage of students seeking terminal certificates and associate degrees (Anderson, Alfonso and Sun 423-440). Further, the success of community colleges in facilitating student transition from two-year to four-year institutions has been questioned (Grubb 194; Kisker 282-283; Yang 147-149). Data indicates that 37.2 percent of students who enter community colleges intend to transfer; however, only 28.9 percent are successful in doing so (Hoachlander et. al 11-13). Extant research illustrates evidence of an achievement gap where some students are more prone to lower transfer rates than others. According to the California Postsecondary Education Commission's Student Profile Report, only 10 percent of Latino students in the state of California transfer from community colleges to a public four-year institution in the state.
The transfer function has been core to community college operations since their inception in 1901 (Townsend 29). The community college transfer process was modeled from the German system of education; in this system, students remain in high school until their generation education (G.E.) is complete, the equivalent of grade 14 in the U.S. Upon completion of their G.E., students can then transfer to a university for advanced study (Kane and Rouse 64). Similarly, the predominant conception of transfer in the community college follows the same pattern. Students complete their first two years of higher education at the community college, focusing on their G.E., and then transfer into a four-year university to complete the remainder of their baccalaureate degrees (Townsend and Wilson 440-442). While other definitions of...