Beyond Transfer Policy Advisory Board Paper “Unpacking Financial Disincentives” Featured on Inside Higher Ed
The Beyond Transfer Policy Advisory Board (PAB) released their third paper, Unpacking Financial Disincentives, examining deterrents that keep colleges from smoothly transferring students’ course credits from one institution to another. This work is part of the TransferBOOST initiative led by IHEP in partnership with rpk GROUP, Sova and HCM and led by the PAB, a group of experts dedicated to transforming the transfer process.
This latest paper puts some of the onus on state lawmakers for not doing enough to encourage progress. It notes that state funding models generally offer little incentive to colleges and universities to better serve transfer students. Most states don’t have funding formulas that reward institutions for taking transfer students or accepting their credits, and few formulas incentivize both two-year and four-year institutions to prioritize equitable outcomes for transfer students.
“The underlying business model for institutions, including the level and orientation of funding provided by the state, runs counter to supporting strong transfer and prior learning policies for students,” Martha Snyder, postsecondary managing director at HCM Strategists, said in the paper.
About TransferBOOST
In 2021, recognizing that the need for clear supports and equitable pathways to complete a degree across multiple institutions has never been more urgent, we partnered with IHEP to ensure transfer policy and practice meet the needs of today’s students, to elevate transfer commitments, and to reach students with simple, clear messaging about affordable transfer pathways. The health and economic crises continue to disproportionately impact Black, Latinx and/or Hispanic, Indigenous, and underserved AANHPI students and students from low-income backgrounds – the very students who are most likely to start their higher education pathway at a community college. TransferBOOST is a collaborative initiative led by IHEP in partnership with Sova, HCM Strategists and rpk GROUP. The Beyond Transfer Policy Advisory Board (PAB) is managed by Sova.
About TransferBOOST Affordability Financial Tool
The TransferBOOST Affordability Financial Tool, developed by rpk GROUP in collaboration with HCM Strategists and the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP), provides step-by-step guidance on how institutions can understand more about the return on investment of better serving students who transfer and are mobile.
To read the Transfer Policy Action Board’s #BeyondTransfer blog on unpacking financial disincentives at Inside Higher Ed, click here.
To read the full report, Unpacking Financial Disincentives: Why and How they Stymie Degree-Applicable Credit Mobility and Equitable Transfer Outcomes, click here.
