Transfer students make the grade at most universities
Shannon West
News Writing Student
OCCC transfer students are keeping up with the grade point averages of undergraduate students at the University of Central Oklahoma and even surpassing that of students at Oklahoma State University.
However, they are showing lower GPAs than the undergraduate students at the University of Oklahoma.
All three are state universities that see a high number of transfer students from OCCC.
Stu Harvey, executive director of Planning and Research, said OCCC analyzed transfer student data to see what they could learn from the numbers.
“One of the reasons we look at this is we want to see how well prepared our students are for going on to a four-year education, and a short answer is, they are,” Harvey said.
He said one of the goals at OCCC is to ensure students who transfer to another college or university have a grade point average equal to, or higher than, all undergraduate students at that same institution.
In spring 2009, the average GPA of OCCC transfer students at UCO was at the same level as all undergraduate students, a 2.80, and slightly higher at OSU, 3.03 versus 2.98, Harvey said.
“This has been consistent the last few years,” he said.
However, the report shows the average GPA for OCCC transfer students at OU was 2.72, while the average GPA for all undergraduates at OU was 3.09.
Mary Green is a student who completed 24 credits at OCCC before transferring to OU where she graduated in 2005.
Green said her GPA remained the same during her transition, and said she didn’t find the coursework at OU to be much different from OCCC.
“The difficulty of coursework really de-pended upon each professor and varied by class,” she said.
Student Laura Brinkman has a different story.
She earned 36 credits at OCCC before transferring to OU, where she is now a senior.
She said she feels the coursework at OU is more difficult compared to her classes at OCCC.
Brinkman said her professors at OU are less lenient about assignments and expect work to be turned in on time.
“The funny thing is, I work a thousand times harder (at OU), and my GPA is lower,” she said. “It just goes to show it’s a lot more difficult.”
Brinkman said her experience at OCCC helped make school work a regular priority and habit, which is important for junior- and senior-level courses.
A recent study from OU indicates OCCC students who transfer as sophomores or juniors do better than students who transfer as freshman.
Freshman transfers from OCCC reported a deficit of 0.73 in GPA compared to all OU undergraduates when they transferred from OCCC to OU between the fall 2008 and spring 2009 semesters, as compared to a loss of 0.58 by sophomore transfers during the same time period.
Junior and senior transfers reported a loss of only .40 in GPA during their first semester at OU, compared to their OU counterparts.
Harvey said the data shows the longer students stay at OCCC, the better they do when they transfer.
Students who complete a degree at OCCC before transferring to a four-year institution have a higher success rating at OU, he said.
“Our students still do reasonably well (at OU),” Harvey said.
