Institutional research (IR) in community/junior colleges in past years has been limited to gathering data for external agencies, concentrating on raw demographic data and student flow studies. IR should be directed toward providing data for administrative decisions and for successful maintenance of college operations. In spite of the heavy demands…

This discussion of the transfer function of California's community colleges focuses on the problems of obtaining reliable information, research findings on factors affecting transfer success, and ways of accurately assessing transfer rates. After affirming the importance of the transfer function of community colleges, the paper examines flaws and…

The community college mission includes such diverse goals as preparing students for job entry, teaching literacy, and satisfying students' personal interests. Measuring the colleges' transfer rates by no means tacitly elevates the transfer function above these other functions; it merely helps institutions estimate the effects of interventions on…