Opportunity for all? The differential impacts of North Carolina’s revised comprehensive articulation agreement by race/ethnicity

Abstract

Transfer articulation agreements are employed by institutions of higher education and state legislatures alike to improve transfer efficiency between two-year and four-year institutions. These agreements often aim both to increase transfer rates and baccalaureate degree completion and to decrease time to degree. Studies exploring the efficacy of articulation agreements find that, despite being successful at decreasing the number of excess credits students earned at graduation and at increasing baccalaureate degree completion, these policies often increase time to degree. While there is considerable research on articulation agreements, few studies have examined the differential impact of these policies on students of Color who, prior literature has shown, experience barriers to realizing their baccalaureate degree aspirations. The purpose of this study was to examine whether the impact of North Carolina’s statewide articulation agreement varied by a student’s racial/ethnic identity when examining two-year post-transfer baccalaureate degree completion, time-to-degree completion, and excess credit accumulation.

Racial Equity in Transfer Incentive Policies: A Critical Mixed Methods Analysis

“…While designed to minimize the complexities surrounding the transfer process, these policies may also introduce unwanted confusion or require students to select a major and destination institution early in their community college career to avoid credit loss, which is not feasible for every student (IHEP, 2012). These policy features of articulation agreements may not be equitable, such as inducing longer times to degree for Black and Latinx students (Worsham et al, 2021). In this way, they are similar to the transfer incentives we examine, which exist to encourage and increase student transfer, but which may exacerbate inequity for racially minoritized students.…”