STUDY OF THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF A COMMUNITY COLLEGE SERVICE DISTRICT'S TRANSFER STUDENTS

The Problem. The purpose of this study was to determine whether significant differences existed between the academic achievement of two-year transfer students from Indian River Community College (IRCC) and native students from the same service district. Both the native and transfer students graduated from the University of Florida (UF) or Florida State University (FSU) between 1977 and 1981. Further, there was the attempt to formulate a predictive equation for upper division grade point average. Summary. The transfer students graduated from high schools in the four counties served by IRCC where they completed their lower division before transferring to FSU or UF. The native students graduated from high schools in the counties served by IRCC and enrolled directly at FSU or UF. The academic performance of these two groups was studied in terms of lower division, upper division, first semester upper division, and cumulative grade point averages, as well as Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores. An important application of this study was the attempt to formulate a predictive equation for upper division grade point average based on either the lower division grade point average, the SAT, or both. Procedure. As a preliminary study, the analysis of variance factorial design was used to determine if there was interaction between the two independent variables. For the hypotheses comparing grade point averages, the one-way analysis of variance was used. Linear regression was used to determine if upper division grade point average could be predicted by lower division grade point average, SAT score, or both. Multiple regression was used to test lower division grade point average and SAT as multiple variables.