Dive Brief:
- The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center’s latest report found more than one-third of first-year students in 2008 had transferred to a different institution by 2014, and almost half of those who had moved did so more than once.
- The report cautions that such high transfer rates could penalize institutions in states with performance-based funding models that do not take transfers into account when it comes to calculating retention numbers.
- According to the report, many students transferring out of four-year schools move to community colleges, and among those students moving in the opposite direction, only about 13% transfer with a certificate or associate degree in hand.
Dive Insight:
The study of the fall 2008 cohort of first-year students is the National Clearinghouse’s second to examine student transfer and mobility. It found similar transfer rates among these students as it did when reporting on the movement within the 2006 cohort. Somewhat fewer students in the later group transferred to four-year colleges from community colleges with a degree, which leaves them vulnerable to having nothing to show for their years of study if they don’t graduate from the four-year program. Because of this, the National Clearinghouse has supported partnerships between two- and four-year colleges that award these transfer students associate degrees once they complete the requisite courses at the four-year institution.