Can Transfer Guides Improve the Uptake of Major Prerequisites? Evidence from Ohio's Transfer and Articulation Policy Reform

This study investigates the use of transfer guides to help students identify transferrable prerequisite credits for academic majors. Employing administrative data of students enrolled in Ohio community colleges, I examine the impact of these curricular roadmaps, called Transfer Assurance Guides (TAG), which were featured in reforms of the state's articulation policy. Leveraging variation in the availability of TAGs as a natural experiment, I estimate the impact of these guides on prerequisite course-taking in the fields of history, business, and economics. I also consider whether the effect varies for first-year students compared to returning students. I find that effects on prerequisite course-taking differed across academic majors, and the effects were lower for students enrolled in their first year compared to returning students. The findings suggest that transfer guides may affect student course-taking, but the impact is small and varies by the preparedness level of students.