Profs. Cathy Burack, Susan Lansperry and Thomas Piñeros Shields from the Center for Youth and Communities at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management released preliminary results of the study they conducted on the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation's Community College Transfer Initiative, a program that helps high-achieving, low-income students transfer from community college to the nation's best 4-year institutions. The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, a foundation aimed at helping exceptional students get the best education possible, released the results of a study titled "Partnerships that Promote Success: The Evaluation of the Community College Transfer Initiative," which highlights effective ways to identify high-achieving students and ease the transfer experience in order to promote social and academic success.

In an interview with the Justice, Burack said that the study is a preliminary report. She said the final report, which will include additional interviews and surveys with faculty, administration and students from the eight universities that participated in the study will be released this December.

CCTI assisted eight highly selective 4-year institutions from 2006 to 2010 in increasing their enrollment of high-achieving, underprivileged community college transfer students said the study. The eight institutions are Amherst College; Bucknell University; Cornell University; Mount Holyoke College; University of California, Berkeley; University of Michigan; The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and University of Southern California. These institutions created relationships with community colleges and worked together to create the best transfer program possible, said Burack. According to the study, 889 new CCTI students matriculated to those eight schools since the program began in 2006.

Burack said that the study focused on three factors of the initiative: the students' performances; the factors associated with the success of those students; and the institutional changes, such as increased support systems for the transfer students within the 4-year institutions.

In evaluating the CCTI for this report, Burack explained that the team of Heller researchers looked at student record data-academic and financial aid-as well as surveys of transfer students conducted upon matriculation and then every spring thereafter.

The study concluded that the CCTI benefited both the 4-year institutions and the transfer students both academically and socially. According to the report, "CCTI students have contributed to campus life by becoming deeply engaged on campus." For example, faculty on college campuses said that the transfer students enriched classroom discussions by bringing new insights and thoughtful questions.

In addition, according to the study, numerous CCTI students were awarded scholarships and honors. Many of these students conducted research with faculty and took on leadership roles on campus. For example, one student was elected student body president.

Burack said that the admissions offices of these institutions did not lower their standards when admitting the students from community colleges, but the transfer students were evaluated and went through the regular admissions processes of the institutions to which they transferred.

Burack also noted the diversity of the eight different institutions across the spectrum, explaining that some are large state universities while others are small liberal arts schools. Burack said that the founders of the initiative aimed for such a range of schools intentionally so that no institutions could feel exempt from participating in a program of this nature.

Burack mentioned that seven out of the eight institutions that received funding from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation are thinking about ways to continue the project at modified levels beyond this school year. However, she explained that the recent economic recession has had a negative impact on the institutions' abilities to continue the initiative and secure funding explained Burack.

Brandeis, however, was not one of the 4-year institutions involved in the initiative. With regard to increasing enrollment of community college transfer students at Brandeis, Burack said, "I am hopeful that we can have this conversation here and open these doors."

In an e-mail to the Justice, Director of Admissions Jennifer Walker said that although Brandeis does not have any specific partnerships with community colleges, the school does "admit transfer students from community colleges who have demonstrated that they can be successful in college level courses." Walker added that admissions counselors "attend community college transfer fairs around the country.