College Transfer Students: A Canadian Case

This article describes the various types of community college‐university interaction that exists in the Province of Ontario and their grouwth over the past few years. This article also compares (over 5 years) the academic performance of a cohort of community college students (Group 1) admitted to the Faculty of Arts at York University with a cohort of high school students with Ontario Academic Credit backgrounds (Group 2) admitted to the Faculty of Arts at York University in the fall of 1987. An analysis of longitudinal data shows that community college students do as well academically or, in some cases, better academically (in 2 of the 5 years under study) compared with direct‐entry high school students but do not proceed toward a degree at the same rate as direct‐entry high school students, taking approximately half a course (.5 FCE) less per year (except in Year 5). Community college students (Group 1) are more likely to be noncompleters / dropouts / stopouts (40.7% compared with 25.3%), and they are less likely to graduate (48.4% compared with 61.3%) compared with direct‐entry high school students (Group 2). In addition, community college students awarded advanced standing are more likely to persist and graduate compared with community college students not awarded advanced standing.