Inside the numbers

The clearinghouse report, the ninth in a series, covers about two million transfer students at 90% of degree-granting institutions. As with the previous iterations, there were very few good numbers overall. Each subgroup of transfers sustained losses during the two years of the pandemic:

White students down 16.4%
Black students down 16.4%
Native American students down 15.6%
Rural institutions down 11.4%
Non-rural institutions down 15.4%
Hispanic-serving Institutions down 16.9%

And the disparities were felt across all transfer types:

Upward transfers down 9.7%
Reverse transfers down 18%
Lateral transfers at 2-year institutions down 21.3%
Lateral transfers at 4-year institutions down 7.6%

Students most impacted were those in the over-20 age group. According to the clearinghouse, their declines were double those of 18- and 19-year-olds, who comprised 30% of all transfers. (The lone gainer was only the 2021 numbers from lateral students moving among four-year institutions, which was up 0.3% ). A comeback of sorts from younger students could be a good indicator that positive change is on the way.

Instant Insights /

Colleges lost nearly 300,000 transfers during first two years of COVID-19 pandemic

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