Transfer student success offers WSCUC a focused arena to apply its equity and data priorities. In January 2022, WSCUC was awarded a grant from the ECMC Foundation titled the Role of Accreditation in Supporting Equitable Student Success Through Transfer. The grant project focused on developing case studies to understand the history, progress, barriers, and opportunities baccalaureate-granting institutions face as they seek to improve outcomes and close equity gaps for transfer students and to identify how the accreditation process can support institutions in achieving transfer student success.

WSCUC invited three of its accredited institutions as partners based on the student populations they serve and commitment to transfer student success – University of Hawai’i West O’ahu, University of La Verne, and CSU Bakersfield. WSCUC collaborated with Alison Kadlec, Ph.D., Founding Partner of Sova, to execute the project. Goals of the project included identifying strategies and opportunities for shaping successful support systems for transfer students to achieve equitable outcomes, understanding the barriers that both students and institutions face, identifying issues impacting equity and persistence, and informing the role of accreditation in supporting institutional and transfer student success.

WSCUC invites you to read the Case Study and accompanying Executive Summary and Inquiry Guide.