Academic self-efficacy, academic integration, social integration, and persistence among first-semester community college transfer students at a four-year institution

The purpose of this study was to investigate differences in the academic self-efficacy, academic integration, social integration, and persistence among community college students from a selected community college during their first semester at a four-year institution. More specifically, differences between students who participated in a first-year transfer transition program and students who did not participate in a transfer transition program were investigated. Using a quantitative cross-sectional survey research design, data regarding transfer students' academic self-efficacy and perceived cohesion beliefs were collected from a web-based survey. These data were analyzed along with students' first semester academic performance and persistence data collected from the student records database at a four-year institution following the students' first semester of enrollment.;Six research questions were examined in this study using an independent samples t-test, Mann Whitney U tests and logistic regression. Logistic regression results showed that the odds of transferring all community college course credits to the four-year institution were 3.29 times higher for transfer transition program participants. Results for the other five research questions indicated that there were not significant differences in academic self-efficacy, perceived cohesion, fall semester GPR, fall semester credits earned, and fall to spring semester persistence between transfer transition program participants and nonparticipants.;While this study yielded an important finding regarding how participation in the transfer transition program increased the likelihood of community college course credits transferring to the four-year institution, more research is needed on how to increase the success and persistence of transfer students at four-year institutions. Recommendations for policy and practice as well as future research regarding community college transfer students and the factors affecting their persistence at the four-year institution are also presented.