Research Plan

Research Plan

The Council's mandate includes conducting research on student and credit mobility. Research allows Council and its partners to better understand student demand, patterns and demographics, and to ensure the effectiveness of the B.C. Transfer System in supporting student access and success.

British Columbia’s credit transfer system is highly diverse, reflecting the province’s varied post-secondary programs, and the flexible pathways by which students access them. Research projects are informed by outreach to, and feedback from Transfer System members and the broader post-secondary community, developed within Council’s standing committees, prioritized in BCCAT’s annual Work Plan, and approved by Council.

The Research Plan outlines current research and provides guidance for projects being considered for future years in each research area, and highlights examples of publications. For completed studies, search our Publications.

2024-2025 Research Plan
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Possible Future Projects

Transfer and Articulation: Policies and Processes

  • Undertake environmental scans of articulation processes to foster effective and efficient course and program articulation
  • Survey and support articulation and institutions for innovative courses/ blocks
  • Assess implications of open educational resources for articulation
  • Overview credit banks and credit accumulation mechanisms in other jurisdictions
  • Analyze the impact of course and program indigenization on articulation and transfer
  • Describe and compare competency-based articulation processes
  • Assess the impact of professional regulatory bodies on articulation
  • Explore options to integrate existing and potential articulation agreements into the program review process
  • Describe, assess and support extra-provincial credit and credential evaluation and recognition

      Highlighted Publications

Admissions and Credit Assessment: Policies and Processes

  • Describe and compare approaches to calculating grades and GPAs for transfer students for the purposes of admission, academic standing, merit awards and other purposes
  • Assess transcription practices and their impact on credit transfer
  • Outline policies and programs supporting transfer student persistence and success
  • Support credit transfer in centralized application processes
  • Review policies and practices in recognition of prior learning, credit recognition, advanced standing, and course exemption
  • Assess the implications of hybrid and fully-online programming for student access and mobility
  • Assess the impact of pre-requisite courses on student access and success
  • Explore innovative admissions strategies and practices and their impact on access and mobility

      Highlighted Publications

Credentials and Pathways

  • Assess the implications of different types of short credentials for admissions, transfer, articulation, student access and mobility, and transcription
  • Evaluate the effectiveness of associate degree, degree partnerships and block transfer pathways
  • Describe the impact of post-degree credentials on articulation
  • Survey and share successful examples of laddering and degree pathways
  • Survey examples of credit transfer for international field schools

      Highlighted Publications

Supporting Student Access, Mobility and Success

  • Identify educational planning needs of various groups of learners, including Indigenous students, mature students and international students
  • Evaluate the effectiveness of the BC Transfer System in supporting student access and persistence
  • Review and analyze the impacts of pre- and post-transfer advising on student mobility and success
  • Survey students who have moved between institutions to better understand their motivations, decision-making processes, and experiences
  • Analyze patterns of student mobility in BC

      Highlighted Publications

Post-Secondary Capacity, Demand, and Demographics

  • Develop transfer student success metrics, including employment outcomes
  • Analyze supply and demand for educational programs and describe its implications for transfer and admissions policies and practices
  • Increase understanding of mobility between private and public institutions in the BC Transfer System
  • Assess the impact of demographic shifts on student program choice and mobility patterns
  • Assess the impact of living costs on student program choices, and student mobility patterns
  • Analyze international student mobility within the BC Transfer System

      Highlighted Publications

High School Transitions

  • Analyze high school performance, graduation and admission requirements, and post-secondary success
  • Survey the efficacy of secondary-exit and post-secondary entrance examinations in other jurisdictions
  • Assess impacts of dual credit programs on student post-secondary access and mobility
  • Analyze patterns of dual credit student transition to post-secondary

      Highlighted Publications