Bermuda College students who move on to four-year colleges and universities to complete their Bachelor?s degrees receive higher grades than they did on the Island, according to research done by a Bermuda College academic.

Reporting the findings at a Hamilton Rotary meeting yesterday, Dr. Duranda Greene said Bermuda College students experienced ?transfer ecstasy? at their new colleges as opposed to the ?transfer shock? commonly seen by community college transferees.

The Assistant to the President for Special Projects, Dr. Duranda Greene said her study was aimed at determining how successfully Bermuda College students transferred to colleges and universities abroad.

The College offers two years worth of academic education leading to an Associate?s Degree and students can then transfer their credits for up to two years towards their Bachelor?s Degree at a three- or four-year institution.

Dr. Greene?s said academic success in the study was measured by first semester GPA, graduation GPA and time taken to graduate.

The results showed that 59 percent of Bermuda College associate degree recipients transferred. Eighty percent of college transfer students were female, 88 percent were black and 76 attended public high school.

Dr. Greene said 43 percent graduated from Bermuda College in two years while the average time to graduate was 3.2 years.

?The average age at time of transfer was 22 years with a range of 17 to 52 years and Canada was the country of choice for 54 percent of the students who transferred to 16 different schools,? she said.

Forty-two percent transferred to the US ? 35 schools ? and four percent transferred to six schools in the UK.

These transfer students received an average of 47 credits with 44 percent receiving at least two years credit towards their bachelor?s degree.

?Transfer students took 2.6 years to graduate from the four-year institutions with 42.2 percent taking two years or less and 81.4 percent graduating within three years,? she said.

Dr. Green said one of the most significant findings from the study was that Bermuda College transfer students? average first semester GPA at their four-year institutions was statistically higher than their Bermuda College graduating GPA.

?This shows that the students were adequately prepared for the upper-level work and it also showed that unlike most community college transfer students, Bermuda College?s transfers did not suffer from the transfer shock syndrome.?

Dr. Greene, who used the research towards her recently completed Doctorate in Educational Leadership, explained that this term was coined in 1965 research.

It has been supported by others since whereby students experience a decrease in their GPA when they transfer to the four-year institution as a result of having to adjust to a university environment.

Bermuda College transfers, she said, experienced ?transfer ecstasy? when transfer students GPAs actually increase.

She added that the study revealed that 96 percent of participants stated that they would recommend students attend Bermuda College and then transfer to institutions abroad.

The study was based on an electronic survey that was sent to 298 transfer students and 151 former college students responded ? which represented a 51 percent response rate.

Dr. Greene said these individuals had successfully transferred to 57 different four-year institutions throughout North America and the UK.

She said 31 of these were also involved in the focus groups and the one-on-one interviews which she conducted as part of the study.

The College, she said, was also value for money as a four-year institution in the US can average $34,612 or $22,616 in Canada for their first two years.

But at the Bermuda College, she said, you can spend $6,600 for two years and earn up to two years credit towards a bachelor?s degree.