Studies of Occupational and Transfer Student Success at John Wood Community College.

Four studies on occupational and transfer student success at John Wood Community College (JWCC), a "contractual" college, are included in this document. Study topics were: (1) the relationship between American College Test (ACT) scores and final grade point average (GPA) among students who transfer to other institutions to complete bachelor's degrees; (2) predictors of academic success for transfer program students; (3) predictors of academic success for occupational/certificate students; and (4) differences between occupational and transfer program students. Students' ACT Social Science scores were found to be closely related to GPA's. For transfer program students, it was found that high GPA was positively related to high school class rank and negatively related to age, time elapsed since high school, marital status, and full-time employment; the contractual institution where students took a majority of their classes did not seem to be a determinant in final GPA at JWCC; and JWCC transfer program students were much like their traditional college student counterparts. For occupational students, it was found that GPA was positively related to high school rank, father's educational level, being female, and being employed part-time. Differences between transfer and occupational students were indicated: transfer program students had significantly higher high school GPA's and class ranks and came from families with significantly higher incomes. (TR)