Abstract
The objective of this study was to determine if the perceptions of urban community college students impacted their decision to transition into a four-year private Catholic university. The study design was quantitative in nature, using an electronic Likert Survey. The electronic survey was sent out to 208 early childhood education students from an urban community college, 67 of these students anonymously participated in the survey. Frequencies were used to describe the participant sample. Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to determine if there was a relationship between the dependent variable, the students’ decisions to transfer, and the independent variables, the students’ perceptions of the barriers to transfer retention. Pearson correlations were run to corroborate the Kruskal-Wallis tests. Lastly, multiple regressions were run to determine the predictability of a researcher-created transition/barrier perception model. The Kruskal-Wallis tests showed a statistically significant relationship between students’ perceptions and their decision to transition, and the Pearson correlations supported the majority of the Kurskal-Wallis’ findings. The regressions showed that the researcher created model could be used as a predictor for community college students’ decision to transition to four-year universities. In conclusion, these results supported the idea that the perceptions of urban community college students do impact their decision to transition into a four-year private Catholic university.