A Follow-Up Study Of The 1984 To 1987 Associate Degree Transfer Students Earning A Baccalaureate Degree At The University Of Southern Mississippi

College Student Journal, Dec, 2000 by Abraham A. Andero

The problem of this study is the lack of knowledge about the difference among the transferred students who graduated with baccalaureate degrees, in term of: program satisfaction and further Education? Furthermore, do the foregoing variables differ with respect to the academic discipline? The primary purpose of the study is to determine the levels of satisfaction among the graduates with their selected baccalaureate degree programs and to determine whether type of degree program is related to work experience and participation in continuing education activities. There were 2,547 associate degree transfer students earning a baccalaureate degree between 1984 and 1987 at the University of Southern Mississippi. Data were collected by survey questionnaire in the 1989/90 school academic year. There were 255 respondents (64%) of the survey of 400 graduates. In summary, the analysis of the data at the .05 level of significance revealed that the jobs of the graduates were very closely related to their baccalaureate programs and very much increased the opportunities for continued growth in earning potential. The study revealed that the graduates were working in jobs directly related to their fields of study

Follow-up surveys of graduates are one method of assessing the value of higher Education and institutional excellence. Kuh (1981) stressed the importance of graduate follow-up data: "alumni manifesting have been underemphasized (in the past) but perhaps the most powerful evidence of quality in the undergraduate experience" (p. 2).

Higher education is" ... particularly ill-informed about what happens to students' career development in the immediate post-graduate years" (Astin, 1979, p. 6.). Follow-up surveys are a means of assessing the quality of postgraduate employment; they provide critically needed feedback on the impact of the higher education upon the graduates' employment experiences. "... The real test of the value of a college education for work-related purposes is its contribution to job performance" (Bisconti, 1979, p. 22). "... Intellectual and interpersonal skills learned in college are directly relationship between abilities of professional and skills taught in the curriculum ..." (Mantkowski & Doherty, 1984, p. 129). Feedback from graduates established a broad perspective from which to assess the impact of the curriculum, formulate policy recommendations, and initiate change. Graduates are representative of the institution's achievements and failures.

The baccalaureate degree is an intermediate educational goal for many graduates. Lott and Rebello (1975) observed that 50% or more of the graduates from the University of Rhode Island in 1955 1960, 1965, and 1970 had continued their education for advanced degrees in occupationally-related training.

By 1975, 19.8% of the graduating classes of 1972, 1973, and 1974 at Brigham Young university had attended graduate school (Moore, 1976). Pace and Rosenstein (1978) found that 58% of the 945 survey respondents who entered the University of California at Los Angeles in 1970 were enrolled in graduate work seven years later. Richards (1984) noted tat 32% of the liberal arts graduates from the University of Massachusetts in 1977 were working towards or had completed advanced degrees within the first three years after earning their baccalaureate degrees. The level of participation varied by program with science majors recording the highest rates of participation in post baccalaureate educational programs. Graduates, who most recently completed their baccalaureate degrees and had a strong relationship between employment and their degrees, were the most likely to enroll in further education. The University of California -Irvine reported that 44.5% of the two-year college transfer students who graduated with baccalaureate degrees between 1965 to 1974 had completed or were pursuing graduate degrees in 1977.

This figure compared quite favorably with those for four -year college transfer students (47.5%) and native four year students (49.6%). Lunneborg and Lunneborg (1975) observed that community college transfer students who graduated from baccalaureate programs placed less emphasis upon the need to continue their education (beyond the baccalaureate level) than did native four-year graduates. Only 27% of the two-year transfer baccalaureate graduates at the University of Washington planned to continue their education as compared to 41% of native graduates.

Donny (1978) observed that participation in graduate and professional training varied by discipline. Graduates in academic disciplines which usually require master's degrees for entry-level employment, had the highest rates of participation in graduate education.

Robinson and Hendell (1977) reported that attendance at graduate and professional schools was higher for traditional liberal arts graduates than nontraditional graduates in the Bachelor of Elected studies program at the University of Minnesota. Sesdian and Sharp's (1979) national survey (N=3,494) of external degree graduates indicated tha 28.6% of the graduates were enrolled in or had completed advanced degrees. Cook's (1962) study of Business Administration graduates at Berry college between 1951 to 1960 showed higher levels of formal education for earlier graduates. There was no difference among graduating classes in the rate of further education for business graduates at Hampton Institute. Braithwaite (1978) reported that the majority of the graduates in three time periods: 1959 and before, 1960-1969, and 1970 and after, had earned master's degrees.