Graduation Year

2022

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Ed.D.

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

Degree Granting Department

Educational Leadership and Policy Studies

Major Professor

Elizabeth Shaunessy-Dedrick, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Mary Beth Corace, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Veselina Lambrev, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Marie Byrd, Ed.D.

Keywords

accountability, higher education, community college, training

Abstract

The transfer student population is rising on college campuses in the United States. Consequently, higher education institutions want to better understand how to support this growing and diverse population. Faced with increased demand for accountability, colleges and universities have developed various initiatives to increase college graduation rates. One such initiative is the Excess Credit Hour Surcharge. The Florida state statute, commonly known as the Excess Credit Hour Surcharge, was introduced by legislators in 2009. The Florida legislature incentivizes state university students to graduate promptly and efficiently to avoid a surcharge. However, the legislation affects transfer students in a unique way with potentially, unintended negative outcomes. There is a dearth of information on the effects of this surcharge on transfer students; only a limited number of researchers have examined how the Excess Credit Hour Surcharge affects transfer students.

The purpose of this study was to conduct a program evaluation of an Excess Credit Hour Surcharge training program serving Florida College System Institutions. In this study, the first three levels of Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick’s (2006) training model was used to evaluate the training. This training program sought to increase awareness and promote changes in the advising behaviors of Florida college system partnering institutions, by informing participants of the effects of excess credit hour surcharges on transfer students. The training sought to improve knowledge to prepare students, who are transferring to a 4-year institution. Additionally, the training informed participants of ways to avoid the extra surcharge, which could potentially double transfer student’s tuition at the transferring institution. The goals of this program evaluation were to (a) determine the participants’ knowledge of the excess credit hour surcharge, (b) determine if participants increased their knowledge of the Excess Credit Hour Surcharge Training with a pre- and post-survey evaluation and (c) determine if the training changed how transfer students are advised about excess credit hour surcharges.

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