College transfers grew by 4.4% last fall, marking three years of increasing enrollment, according to a new report by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. With transfer enrollment 7.9% higher than pre-pandemic fall 2020, transfer students comprised about 13% of non-first-year undergraduates.
Transfer enrollment has increased the most at community colleges compared to all other institution sectors. But also driving the increase is the number of students moving from a two- to a four-year institution—about 500,000 in fall 2024. Primarily online institutions experienced the highest year-over-year percent change in enrollment for upward transfers from two-to-four-year institutions at 8.2%. That’s almost six percentage points higher than the sector with the second-highest transfer increase (public four-year colleges at 2.6%).
More than half of all upward transfers originated from a two-year vocational school (where 53.8% or more awards are in career and technical disciplines). Growth was nearly three times that of institutions where 35.7% or fewer awards are in career and technical disciplines.
“The growth in transfers this fall is a further indication that students are adjusting postsecondary goals in response to changing education and labor market conditions,” said Doug Shapiro, executive director of the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.
More from UB: This new FAQ answers your questions about DEI laws
Shapiro added that this is especially good news for stopped-out adults finding a college that better aligns with their needs. The report found that previously stopped-out students returning to higher education by transferring to a new institution made up over half of all transfer students.
Transfers into business and health majors experienced the highest growth rates, while those into computer science—following years of increases—declined a whopping 8.4% across all prior majors.
The Clearinghouse’s inaugural Transfer Enrollment and Pathways report replaces its previous series covering student transfers. Its revised methodology aims to identify freshmen more accurately, correcting its recent error that misstated first-year fall 2024 enrollment.
(Correction: An earlier form of this article stated that students were increasingly transferring upward into vocational schools. However, the report states that growth reported on in upward transfers is from high vocational public two-year institutions into four-year schools.)
Initiatives that may have helped boost college transfers
Recent federal, state and university system initiatives have aimed to streamline college transfers since the pandemic. Here are a few of them:
- A 2023 rule from the Department of Education effectively banned institutions from withholding transcripts from students wishing to transfer elsewhere.
- A law signed in Colorado last year requires all four-year institutions to compile a public report on all the credits they accept and reject, a first among all U.S. states.
- North Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities and the North Carolina Community College System have created an online portal that pulls the two state systems’ 36 four-year colleges and 58 community colleges into one public database.
- A partnership between Ithaka S+R and community colleges across Northern Ohio is helping stopped-out students re-enroll by erasing up to $5,000 in unpaid balances as they progress toward earning their degree.
