What Kinds of Advising Are Important to Community College Pre- and Posttransfer Students?

Abstract

Educators assert that academic advising before and after transferring enhances the success of baccalaureate degree-seeking students who begin at community colleges. Yet, there is little research that investigates the kinds of advising that are differentially important to pre- versus posttransfer students. In this study, we examined the importance ascribed to 12 advising functions by two groups: (a) students enrolled at two community colleges who intended to transfer to 4-year institutions and (b) students enrolled at five universities who had transferred from one of the study community colleges. Pretransfer students differed significantly from posttransfer students in their ratings of 7 of the 12 functions. Results highlight the kinds of advising that are particularly important to pretransfer students, as well as advising functions that are highly valued by both groups. Implications for advising practices at 2- and 4-year institutions are discussed.