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Analyzing time-to-degree for transfer students at Michigan State University
written by Alyssa C. Waterson, Marcos D. Caballero, and Rachel Henderson
Earning a bachelor's degree is expensive and time-consuming. Many undergraduate students pursue Advanced Placement (AP) courses in high school or transfer coursework from degree-granting institutions. However, the effect of those transfer credits on the time that it takes students to graduate (time-to-degree) is currently not well understood. We have investigated how incoming transfer credit impacts students' time-to-degree by defining three independent groups of transfer students: (1) those entering with College-level transfer credit, (2) those with only AP-level transfer credit, and (3) those without any transfer credit. The time-to-degree has been shown to be statistically different for each of these groups, with students who enter with college-level transfer credit graduating with the fewest semesters. We have explored differences in time-to-degree for students majoring in Physics and specifically for those who are traditionally underrepresented in the field. Cohen's d results suggest large negative effects on the time-to-degree for Physics students without any transfer credit, especially for female students and underrepresented ethnic or racial minority students. These results provide implications toward how universities support graduation in four years, as well as other impacts toward student financial aid such as four-year scholarships. This work was supported by Michigan State University's College of Natural Science and the National Science Foundation (DUE-1725520).
Physics Education Research Conference 2021
Part of the PER Conference series
Virtual Conference: August 4-5, 2021
Pages 438-443
Subjects Levels Resource Types
Education - Basic Research
- Achievement
- Student Characteristics
- Lower Undergraduate
- Upper Undergraduate
- Reference Material
= Research study
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Format:
application/pdf
Mirror:
https://doi.org/10.1119/perc.2021…
Access Rights:
Free access
License:
This material is released under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the published article's author(s), title, proceedings citation, and DOI.
Rights Holder:
American Association of Physics Teachers
DOI:
10.1119/perc.2021.pr.Waterson
NSF Number:
1725520
Keyword:
PERC 2021
Record Creator:
Metadata instance created October 4, 2021 by Lyle Barbato
Record Updated:
October 7, 2021 by Lyle Barbato
Last Update
when Cataloged:
October 10, 2021
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Record Link
AIP Format
A. Waterson, M. Caballero, and R. Henderson, , presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2021, Virtual Conference, 2021, WWW Document, (https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=15794&DocID=5523).
AJP/PRST-PER
A. Waterson, M. Caballero, and R. Henderson, Analyzing time-to-degree for transfer students at Michigan State University, presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2021, Virtual Conference, 2021, <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=15794&DocID=5523>.
APA Format
Waterson, A., Caballero, M., & Henderson, R. (2021, August 4-5). Analyzing time-to-degree for transfer students at Michigan State University. Paper presented at Physics Education Research Conference 2021, Virtual Conference. Retrieved April 30, 2025, from https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=15794&DocID=5523
Chicago Format
Waterson, A, M. Caballero, and R. Henderson. "Analyzing time-to-degree for transfer students at Michigan State University." Paper presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2021, Virtual Conference, August 4-5, 2021. https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=15794&DocID=5523 (accessed 30 April 2025).
MLA Format
Waterson, Alyssa C., Marcos D. Caballero, and Rachel Henderson. "Analyzing time-to-degree for transfer students at Michigan State University." Physics Education Research Conference 2021. Virtual Conference: 2021. 438-443 of PER Conference. 30 Apr. 2025 <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=15794&DocID=5523>.
BibTeX Export Format
@inproceedings{ Author = "Alyssa C. Waterson and Marcos D. Caballero and Rachel Henderson", Title = {Analyzing time-to-degree for transfer students at Michigan State University}, BookTitle = {Physics Education Research Conference 2021}, Pages = {438-443}, Address = {Virtual Conference}, Series = {PER Conference}, Month = {August 4-5}, Year = {2021} }
Refer Export Format

%A Alyssa C. Waterson %A Marcos D. Caballero %A Rachel Henderson %T Analyzing time-to-degree for transfer students at Michigan State University %S PER Conference %D August 4-5 2021 %P 438-443 %C Virtual Conference %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=15794&DocID=5523 %O Physics Education Research Conference 2021 %O August 4-5 %O application/pdf

EndNote Export Format

%0 Conference Proceedings %A Waterson, Alyssa C. %A Caballero, Marcos D. %A Henderson, Rachel %D August 4-5 2021 %T Analyzing time-to-degree for transfer students at Michigan State University %B Physics Education Research Conference 2021 %C Virtual Conference %P 438-443 %S PER Conference %8 August 4-5 %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=15794&DocID=5523


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