Access, Equity & the Transfer Pipeline

Ashish Vaidya addresses persistent barriers in the U.S. transfer pipeline, emphasizing the need for systemic solutions to credit mobility, information gaps, and student confidence. Drawing from his policy and campus-level work, he advocates for stronger alignment between community colleges and four-year institutions, starting as early as high school. Vaidya highlights promising practices — like co-located housing and early pathway communications — that help students see themselves as future university graduates. He also reflects on regional disparities in access, especially in areas like California’s Inland Empire, and calls for collaborative leadership to overcome “education deserts.” By embracing hybrid models, technology, and a shared regional mission, institutions can close longstanding equity gaps and expand opportunity.

Yeah, it's a decades a decades long problem, and the frustration I think that is being felt across this, one more reason for the crisis of confidence, is that over the last two three decades, as as a system, as a as a nation, we really haven't moved the dial on transfer, which is a travesty. In fact, there was a recent - a couple of recent articles you might have seen in 'Inside Higher Ed', that said, you know, maybe we should just stop kidding ourselves that we are focused on improving transfer and just say this is it and be done with it. You know, 15% of students transfer effectively and get a baccalaureate degree, when 85% actually want to do that. That number hasn't changed a great deal, even when we work with the Minnesota system. We're talking about 12 or 13%. And that had stayed constant for well over 20 years. So you know, some of the core issues - there is the issue of credit mobility. There is the issue of asymmetric information; what I'm taking does, it really count or or not? Those two at the core are some of the most significant challenges, but I think the others that have that have surfaced, and over the years, and certainly in my experience, is the sense that students, and I don't think we should dismiss this, students who start at a community college. And I'm making a bit of a generalization here, have a sense of, you know, am I really ready for the big four-year school? The community colleges is down the street for me. I can just go there, you know, under the radar a little bit, not a big deal. Am I ready for the big school, right? Am I ready for that? And I think when they step foot on a community college, even though they have an aspiration, a goal, there isn't that sense in their minds that they are ready and that they have a sense of confidence that they can do that. I think it's up to us, and when I say us, meaning both the community colleges and the four institutions, to start building that mindset in the students. Yes, you belong. This is how we're going to help make you make sure that you-you're going to work hard, of course, but this is how we're going to make sure that there is a warm handoff and that you're not going to see the difference between your starting point here and your ending point here. And there are various ways that you can do things that can help along the way, whether it is direct admission, for the students. You know, I made this - there was a meeting I was at and somebody asked me, "Well, what's a bold idea you could come up with?" Something to do with career, there was a new master plan in California around career education. In California, you can start taking a community college course in the ninth grade, part of dual enrollment, which I think is there in many, many states now. So, in ninth grade, you have the ability to get to start taking college-level courses. And the vision right now in California is that by the time you finish high school, you should have completed at least 12 credits of college-level work. Great model when it's done well. So that now you already are on that pathway to to college and beyond. And I said, how wouldn't it be cool if we sent a letter to every starting ninth grader that said, congratulations, you are now on your pathway to X community college, and this university, and your journey starts today. That at ninth grade, it's in their minds, "Oh, I'm going to go to college." This is just the first step, it's a little taste, but then we build in experiences along the way that will essentially make sure that pathway continues, including a pathway to a career, because again, there's nothing that says it shouldn't start at 9th grade. So the idea that we have to instill in them. So you asked about the the major barriers to transfer, credit mobility, lack of the asymmetric information, sense of belonging and this question that still this blurring lines between - so the University of California Riverside and Riverside Community College just is going to open a brand new dorm this fall where they're going to have students from the community college co-mingled with students from UC Riverside to to even further elim eliminate this notion that, oh, I'm a community college student and you're a UCR student. We're in the same dorm. We're we have access to the same, we're rooting for the same team. We're going to be part - not that the teams are very good, but we're part of the same ecosystem now. And so it starts building that confidence because, as we know, for so many of the students, that notion of, 'Can I even do it? Do I even belong?' is still a major roadblock, and I think if we keep instilling that sense of confidence and eliminating those barriers it is it is just by design that it's going to happen. Yeah, I think we call them education deserts, right, that there are places that don't have, and it goes back to the point I made earlier. Given the importance of universities as community anchors, the fact that there may not be a 4-year university in driving distance or commuting distance can be a major roadblock, and in the minds of students who are in that - in those regions, it's like, well, that's just too far-fetched. If I have to go 100 miles or 200 miles to go to a 4-year institution, that becomes very low on my on my priority [list]. I think in this day and age, with technology the way it is leapfrogging all those constraints. I think it's our responsibility to find unique ways in which we make access possible. Whether it's through, you know, on immersive, online state-of-the-art, this is not 20 years ago when you offered a, you know, what used to be called correspondence courses online is very different now. It's extremely interactive. It can be extremely fulfilling, and so I think there are ways in which you could do that. And sprinkle in some hybrid experiences so that the students still feel a sense of community and engagement, whether it's with you know local companies or or whatever. So, I I think the - again it has to be a recognition. Are we serving the needs? Being in the Inland Empire is a classic example of cases where the geography is so different. There's lots of opportunities in the urban core in some ways, but for a population of 4.7 million people, to only have two public universities is a challenge. And in there are parts that, you know, I mentioned to you, there are parts of the Inland Empire, they're closer to ASU than they are to a four-year public university in California. This is where I think about collaboration, thinking about not being so turf-minded and saying, look, let's think about the region and students and families. Ultimately, when we lift up the regions and families, we all benefit. There has to be that sense of urgency that it's somehow, we're in this collective. We're not just competing against each other. And I think that sense of community and collective idea. is so leadership dependent, that you know, unless leaders really are trained to think that way, it doesn't happen automatically. You think of yourself as being [in] this silo [on] this island. I want to compete with anybody else. I want to be the best. But you don't automatically think about the fact well, let's think about what's best for the region and then align our activities and our collaborations in that way