Methodology
Transfer-Level Completion Rates for Selected College
The completion rate is the percentage of students in a given cohort (e.g., 2013-2014, 2014-2015, 2015-2016, etc.) who successfully completed a transfer-level course in English or math within the specified timeframe (e.g., one term, one year, two years, three years). The cohort is defined by the student's starting level and the academic year of the student's first English or math enrollment. A completion rate is also known as throughput. In this view, users can look at these completion rates for a specific region and/or compare regions to each other or to statewide rates.
In dashboards published prior to fall 2022, only a student’s first two attempts at a transfer-level course were available. Starting with the 2020-2021 update, this limitation was removed, and all attempts within the specified timeframe are now included. This change resulted in slight differences in outcomes or counts to prior versions of the dashboard.
Equity Gaps (PPG-1 Methodology)
Users can disaggregate transfer-level completion rates for English and math based on student characteristics to determine if disproportionate Impact (DI) is present for the selected subgroup. Student groups who significantly perform below the average rate of all other groups are identified as DI with the Percentage Point Gap (PPG) method. PPG uses the average (excluding the group of interest i.e., PPG-1 method) as a reference taking sample sizes into account. Learn more about the calculation of the PPG-1. Again, users can look at the presence of equity gaps for colleges in a specific region and/or compare regions to each other or to statewide rates.
In this visual, users may see the presence of equity gaps by the following student variables.
| Category | Comments |
|---|---|
| Gender | Female and Male only. Nonbinary and Unknown not graphed. |
| Ethnicity | Displays only African American, Hispanic, Native American, Pacific Islander, and Two or More Races. |
| Age 35+ | Calculated field based on age at first enrollment in the discipline. Other age groups not graphed. |
| DSPS | As reported to COMIS |
| EOPS | As reported to COMIS |
| First Generation Student | Student is considered first generation if both parents or guardians have never attended college or attained an associate degree or higher as reported by the student at any college. The methodology follows the same structure as SM 108 First-Generation. |
Note: Enrollment in special programs (i.e., DSPS, EOPS) were included as enrolled in the program if enrollment occurred at any point within the timeframe of the data file. Enrollment in the program did not have to take place at the time of enrollment in a math or English course.
Definitions/Filters
Region
Users can select one or more regions to observe transfer-level completion rates in English or math as well as assess disproportionate impact. The “Statewide” option aggregates this information across all colleges in the system.
College
Students are assigned to a college based on their first course enrollment in the discipline and include completion anywhere in the system. Completion is attributed to the starting college. Again, the “Statewide” option aggregates this information across all colleges in the system.
Cohort
The cohort is defined by the student's starting level and the academic year of the student's first enrollment in English (for English outcomes) or first enrollment in math (for math outcomes).
Subject
English
English courses are defined by the Taxonomy of Program (TOP) code 1501.00 (English). English as a Second Language courses equivalent to a transfer-level English course were not included in the data file. Additionally, courses with pre-transfer CB 21 codes (e.g., "A", "B", "C", or "D") were included as below transfer level. Transfer-level courses with English TOP codes were those courses with a CB21 code of “Y” (not prior to college level) and a CB05 transfer status code indicating that the course transfers to the University of California (UC) and/or California State University (CSU) system.
The CB05 requirement was added in the summer 2023 dashboard update and did not have large impacts for statewide rates; however, a small number of colleges did see a change in completion rates. Refer to the Dashboard Comparison document to view the differences between the 2022 and 2023 versions of the dashboard resulting from the inclusion of the CB05 data field.
Math
Math courses are defined by the TOP code 1701.00 (Mathematics) as well as courses that meet transfer-level math or quantitative reasoning requirements in other TOP code areas including 0103.00 (Plant Science), 0501.00 (Business), 0504.00 (Banking & Finance), 0505.00 (Business Administration), 0599.00 (Other Business and Management), 0506.00 (Business Management), 0701.00 (Information Technology, General), 0702.00 (Computer Information Systems), 0706.00 (Computer Science), 0707.10 (Computer Programming), 0707.30 (Computer Systems Analysis), 0801.00 (Education, General), 1506.00 (Speech Communication), 1509.00 (Philosophy), 1701.00 (Math, General), 1799.00 (Other Math), 1702.00 (Mathematics Skills), 2001.00 (Psychology), 2003.00 (Behavioral Science), 2099.00 (Other Psychology), 2201.00 (Social Sciences), 2204.00 (Economics), and 2208.00 (Sociology). Math courses within other TOP codes were identified in collaboration with the Academic Senate for the California Community Colleges. Additionally, courses with pre-transfer CB 21 codes (e.g., "A", "B", "C", or "D") were included as below transfer level. Transfer-level courses with math TOP codes were those courses with a CB21 code of “Y” (not prior to college level) and a CB05 transfer status code indicating that the course transfers to the UC and/or CSU system.
The CB05 requirement was added in the summer 2023 dashboard update and did not have large impacts for statewide rates; however, a small number of colleges did see a change in completion rates. Refer to the Dashboard Comparison document to view the differences between the 2022 and 2023 versions of the dashboard resulting from the inclusion of the CB05 data field.
Starting Course Level
“At Transfer Level” means the student’s first course of enrollment in the discipline was at transfer level (CB21 = Y).
“Below Transfer: 1 Level” means the student’s first course of enrollment in the discipline was at one level below transfer (CB21 = A).
“Below Transfer: 2 Levels or More” means the student’s first course of enrollment in the discipline was at two levels below transfer or below (CB21 = B, C or D).
First Attempt Term
This filter allows users to look at students whose first enrollment in the discipline was either in the fall term or to look at all starting terms combined.
Timeframe to Completion
The timeframe to completion represents the period over which the starting cohort is tracked to successful completion of the transfer level course. One-term is completion within the first term of enrollment within the discipline. The one-year timeframe includes students who completed a transfer-level class within one year (365 days) of their initial attempt in the sequence (e.g., Fall-[Winter]-Spring-Summer; Spring-Summer-Fall-[Winter]; etc.). Two- and three-year timeframes extend this logic for two or three years.
