Examining the Educational and Employment Outcomes of Reverse Credit Transfer. Policy Brief

Data from the National Student Clearinghouse shows that an estimated 36 million students in the United States previously attended a college or university but never earned a degree. Research shows that many students transfer from a community college to a university before earning an associate's degree, and that many transfer students never make it across the bachelor's degree finish line. To address these issues, a growing number of states and institutions have implemented reverse credit transfer (RCT) policies, designed to award associate's degrees to students who transfer from 2-year to 4-year colleges after transfer. The partnership between the University of Texas -- El Paso and El Paso Community College is one of first examples of RCT in the country, and the Texas Legislature passed House Bill 3025 in 2011 mandating that public colleges engage in RCT. The purpose of this study is to examine how the receipt of associate's degrees after transferring to a university relates to students' university and employment outcomes in Texas. The authors examine the long-term university persistence, baccalaureate attainment, employment, and earnings of students who transferred from community colleges to universities and estimate the relationship between RCT degree receipt and these outcomes. The following research questions are addressed in this study: (1) What is the impact of receiving the associate's degree through RCT on university persistence and baccalaureate attainment?; (2) To what extent does the relationship between associate's degree receipt through RCT and university outcomes vary by students' demographic backgrounds (Pell eligibility, race/ethnicity, and age)?; (3) What is the impact of receiving the associate's degree through RCT on students' labor market outcomes?; and (4) To what extent does the relationship between associate's degree receipt through RCT and labor market outcomes vary by students' demographic backgrounds (Pell eligibility, race/ethnicity, and age)?