The pathways and performance of undergraduate engineering transfer students

The pathways and performance of undergraduate engineering transfer students" (2013). Introduc2on Pathways • Students who aLend two or more post‐secondary insDtuDons, or transfer students, make up just over one‐third of all U.S. students 1. • Transfer students demonstrate lower retenDon 2 and graduaDon rates 3 than " naDve " students who start and remain at the same insDtuDon. • Transfer students may change to an insDtuDon in the same state or transfer to a school in another state. • Studies focusing on transfer students emphasize the 2‐year to 4‐year (" ver2cal ") transiDon, while few consider the " horizontal " pathway (transfer from a 2‐year or 4‐year insDtuDon to another similar insDtuDon). Performance • When moving from one insDtuDon to another, math and science majors oYen experience a decrease in GPA (termed " transfer shock " 4), whereas other majors' GPAs stay the same or even increase 5 (known as " transfer ecstasy " 6). • Understanding differences in pathways and performance is important, because the shrinking pool of U.S. engineering graduates jeopardizes America's posiDon in the global engineering and technology hierarchy 7 .