Undergraduate Research Programs for STEM Transfer Success: A Multi-Institutional Approach

Transfer students face many challenges transitioning to a four-year institution, yet support for transfer students can be less comprehensive than for their first time-in-college (FTIC) counterparts. Three four-year universities established the Learning Environment and Academic Research Network Consortium to address this need. They developed and tested a research program for transfer students, Transfer Learning Environment and Academic Research Network (T-LEARN), adapted from a successful STEM FTIC research program. In this adapted model, incoming transfer students engage in a year-long undergraduate research learning community. When compared to the matched comparison group of students, the T-LEARN students showed significant persistence and graduation rate gains at all three institutions. These gains positively impacted student achievement and persistence in STEM. This model provides a foundation for other institutions seeking to support transfer student success.