How do Transfer Students Perform in Economics? Evidence from Intermediate Macroeconomics

Authors

Carlos J. Asarta, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow
Scott M. Fuess Jr, University of Nebraska at LincolnFollow
Andrew Perumal, University of Massachusetts, BostonFollow

Date of this Version

2013

Citation

THE JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC EDUCATION, 44(2), 110–128, 2013

Comments

Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

Open access

DOI: 10.1080/00220485.2013.770336

Abstract

For students taking intermediate-level economics, does it matter where they studied principles of economics? Does transferring college credit influence subsequent academic performance in economics? With a sample covering 1999–2008, the authors analyze in this article a group of nearly 1,000 students taking intermediate macroeconomics at a prominent state university. Despite seemingly impressive looking grades from the principles of macroeconomics course, community college transfer students significantly under performed their peers in the intermediate macroeconomics course, unlike transfer students from four-year institutions. Moreover, students who transferred other course work from community college (that is, other than the principles course) were relatively less likely to succeed in intermediate macroeconomics.