
This paper presents the evaluation of a program designed to improve transfer outcomes for community college students pursuing an engineering degree. The program, the Engineering Admissions Partnership Program (E-APP), was designed to improve the navigational success of community college transfer students through connections to the university. These connections include coordinated academic advising, peer-mentoring, campus visits, and online social and professional networks. The objective of the study is to determine the efficacy of the E-APP and its interventions, which will be measured by increased participation rates and increased university retention rates for E-APP participants. Outcome data for the students are analyzed statistically for significant differences between the quasi-experimental groups (E-APP or not EAPP), matched based on Math ACT scores. The results show significant improvement in first-year retention rates for EAPP participants. The results of this study are both transferrable and scalable. This research may help increase the success of community college transfers to engineering through developing and implementing similar navigational programs across the country.
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/steven_mickelson/54/
This article is from International Journal of Engineering Education 29 (2013): 1260. Posted with permission.