Career and technical education students who transition to four-year institutions: An exploratory study

Abstract

Each year more students with career and technical education (CTE) backgrounds are transitioning to four-year institutions. This exploratory study investigated differences between CTE, community college transfers and native (nontransfer) students at four-year institutions in regard to how they balance their time and their academic engagement patterns. An important finding of this study was that CTE students, when compared to traditional nontransfer students and community college transfers, spent equal amounts of time studying and demonstrated equal or significantly greater levels of academic engagement. The findings also provide the higher education community much needed information regarding the CTE students' transition to college.