February 2012
It is widely acknowledged that many postsecondary students no longer follow a traditional path from college entry to degree at a single institution. Increasingly more students attend multiple institutions, transferring once, twice, or even three times before earning a degree. Standard institution-based reporting tends to ignore these students, however, focusing only on those who enter as first-time freshmen and treating students who do not receive a degree from their first institution as dropouts.
- National Student Clearinghouse Research Center
August 2011
Improving Student Transfer from Community Colleges to Four-Year Institutions: The Perspective of Leaders from Baccalaureate-Granting Institutions, - a new report from the College Board, examines the transfer process in the United States and the challenges currently faced by students and institutions alike. Based on extensive interviews with institutional leaders, the report provides examples of effective policies and strategies that four-year campuses have employed to improve transfer for two-year students. Recommendations for four-year leaders include understanding the differences between transfer students and first-year students and making them an integral part of the campus-wide mission. The report concludes that as community college becomes a more popular option for students, successful transfer will become an increasingly important pathway towards bachelor’s degree attainment.
June 2011
As noted on The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education’s website (www.highereducation.org, "this Policy Alert focuses on the importance of increasing baccalaureate degree completion through college affordability and transfer from community colleges to four-year institutions. The alert highlights the vital role of community colleges as the entry point for many students seeking a bachelor's degree." You may download the PDF of the full report HERE.
September 2010
A new study conducted by the WICHE Cooperative for Educational Technologies examines student access to web-based transfer and articulation resources that can help save time, money, and increase the likelihood of degree completion. Part of the of the “Best Practices in Statewide Articulation and Transfer Systems” project funded by Lumina Foundation for Education, and conducted by Hezel Associates and WICHE, the report offers state, institutional, and student perspectives and argues that a visible, centralized web presence can positively impact all three groups by providing convenient and up-to-date transfer and articulation information.
March 2010
This report shows that in South Carolina, since 2006:
- student transfer from one institution to another has increased significantly (16.8%) and that transfer has increased at a higher rate than opening undergraduate enrollment.
- transfers out of the technical college system have seen a 22% increase; similarly, transfers out of the regional campuses of USC have seen a 21.2% increase.
- the number of transfers originating at technical colleges and moving into public research institutions has increased significantly (48.5%).
- the number of transfers originating at technical colleges and moving into the comprehensive teaching colleges and universities has increased (15.4 %).
This report also shows that in 2008:
- Of the 15,658 transfer students, 2,479 (15.8%) were "reverse" transfers from a four-year to a two-year or technical college.
- Of 5,587 transfers originating at public and independent two-year institutions, 11.8% made a "lateral" transfer to another two-year institution.
Click on this link to view the "Migration of Undergraduate First-Time Transfers: A Snapshot Analysis" Report
August 27, 2009
A new report suggests closing a projected work-force gap by enabling more students to transfer easily from two- to four-year institutions.
February 10, 2009
A new report from the Center on Reinventing Public Education finds that the presence of statewide articulation and transfer agreements has not lead to a significant increase in the number of community college students transferring to four-year institutions. "Community College Transfer and Articulation Policies: Looking Beneath the Surface" explores how specific articulation policies impact students with different socioeconomic or ethnic backgrounds and concludes that institutional factors may currently play a more important role in whether or not students transfer between sectors. The report further notes that while most postsecondary officials do not want to abandon articulation policies, they would like to make them part of a larger, more comprehensive effort to increase transfer between two-year and four-year institutions.
State and federal policy need to provide greater incentives, both to students and to the institutions that serve them, to enhance the likelihood of student success. In this paper Art Hauptman adds substantially to the body of work that has been supported by Lumina Foundation for Education in WICHE’s Changing Direction project, which has focused on how states can intentionally change finance policies– appropriations, tuition, and financial aid– to expand access to success, particularly for the most at-risk young adults. 2007 ~ 26pp. ~ Pub #2A361 ~ Printed copies available ~ PDF ~ 1.2 MB