Four-year College Transfer from

Total Public Two-Year Institutions

Every four-year college and university in the Commonwealth that offers undergraduate programs has some kind of transfer agreement with Virginia's public two-year colleges. Transfer offers an affordable entry point to higher education with a variety of benefits to the student beyond cost. These benefits include additional academic support for those who may not feel "college-ready" or for those who are several years beyond high school graduation. Another benefit is that every Virginian is within an hour drive of a community college - one does not have to "go away" to go to college.

Transfer, though, is not seamless. In order to improve student success, and recognize when and where success is occurring, two-year colleges that produce transfer students and four-year colleges that receive them, need to be in a partnership to provide feedback to one another. This report is designed to provide that feedback, primarily to the two-year colleges, however, four-year colleges will find these data useful as well.

Each section below provides an overview of a specific aspect of transfer. There are links embedded to guide the user to greater detail.

Numbers of Transfers

The number of transfers annually from a two-year college, is an important base from which to begin analysis. We break those annual totals down into broad categories of race/ethnicity (majority students, students of color) and subdivide those by gender. In this way we develop a sense of the scope overall trends of transfer over eight eight years. Please note that there is always a lag in the most recent year of data available since students starting college in the spring semester are included in these cohorts and annual enrollment files are reported well after the fact.
To explore more about students who transfer...

Total Public Two-Year Institutions

Students Transferring from Total Public Two-Year Institutions in the Fall and Spring of the Designated Year

	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23
a. Total Transfers	13,968	12,820	12,335	12,052	11,788	11,687
b. Men - Total	6,302	5,728	5,484	5,280	5,111	5,109
c. Women - Total	7,665	7,092	6,851	6,764	6,677	6,574
d. Majority Students - Total	7,859	7,153	6,774	6,681	6,291	6,230
e. Majority Students - Men	3,629	3,278	3,106	3,006	2,798	2,833
f. Majority Students - Women	4,229	3,875	3,668	3,670	3,493	3,394
g. Students of Color - Total	6,109	5,667	5,561	5,371	5,497	5,457
h. Students of Color - Men	2,673	2,450	2,378	2,274	2,313	2,276
i. Students of Color - Women	3,436	3,217	3,183	3,094	3,184	3,180

Notes:

Full Legal Name - "Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University" (Virginia Tech); "The College of William and Mary" (William & Mary)

Where did they Transfer?

The next question of interest "Where did they Transfer" is answered below, also with annual counts. This provides important information to the two-year college and the public about the predominant transfer routes taken by students.
To explore even more about students who transfer...

Total Public Two-Year Institutions
All Students
Students Transferring from Total Public Two-Year Institutions
in Fall and Spring of the Designated Year

Color variation represents the low to high variation within each column.

	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23
Public Institutions
Christopher Newport University (details)	131	124	121	119	106	110
George Mason University (details)	3,586	3,294	3,218	3,185	3,260	3,160
James Madison University (details)	768	683	644	637	680	680
Longwood University (details)	185	165	133	157	110	120
Norfolk State University (details)	297	249	263	210	184	187
Old Dominion University (details)	2,137	1,875	1,830	1,911	1,743	1,796
Radford University (details)	616	542	556	502	547	562
University of Mary Washington (details)	364	292	308	294	242	284
University of Virginia (details)	411	423	454	483	486	453
University of Virginia's College at Wise (details)	99	72	52	90	47	47
Virginia Commonwealth University (details)	1,707	1,636	1,499	1,538	1,520	1,385
Virginia Military Institute (details)	25	20	16	15	5	5
Virginia State University (details)	155	142	152	118	158	154
Virginia Tech (details)	711	786	754	801	765	795
William & Mary (details)	108	96	112	117	140	108
Total Public Four-Year Institutions (details)	11,300	10,399	10,112	10,177	9,993	9,846
Private Institutions
George Washington University (details)	175	188	161	140	120	92
Averett University (details)	49	45	34	39	46	56
Bluefield University (details)	108	90	86	47	24	31
Bridgewater College (details)	39	25	26	24	39	26
Christendom College (details)	2	2	4	0	3	1
Eastern Mennonite University (details)	63	51	55	34	27	19
Emory & Henry College (details)	19	28	27	25	29	24
Ferrum College (details)	30	24	19	27	18	18
Hampden-Sydney College (details)	4	2	4	3	5	3
Hampton University (details)	39	28	44	24	6	23
Hollins University (details)	10	16	17	14	9	10
Liberty University (details)	1,020	953	979	832	852	887
Mary Baldwin University (details)	163	104	19	1	69	85
Marymount University (details)	151	168	161	156	137	116
Randolph College (details)	24	23	14	20	13	10
Randolph-Macon College (details)	26	27	34	23	25	20
Regent University (details)	266	215	205	172	144	146
Roanoke College (details)	53	42	54	49	43	35
Shenandoah University (details)	78	85	88	89	55	81
Southern Virginia University (details)	11	12	6	3	5	8
Sweet Briar College (details)	5	6	8	9	7	5
University of Lynchburg (details)	67	57	47	46	52	46
University of Richmond (details)	60	36	36	31	20	22
Virginia Union University (details)	16	17	9	0	16	38
Virginia Wesleyan University (details)	47	40	65	45	30	39
Washington and Lee University (details)	1	0	0	0	1	0
Total Private, Four-Year Institutions (details)	2,668	2,421	2,223	1,875	1,795	1,841

Starting cohorts of fewer than 10 are excluded from reporting.

Notes:

Full Legal Name - "Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University" (Virginia Tech); "The College of William and Mary" (William & Mary)

Status and Accomplishment at Transfer

Not unlike students who are first-time in college, transfer students arrive at four-year institutions with a variety of backgrounds and needs, and a collection of credits that may, or may not, have been well-chosen for ultimate success as transfer student into a bachelors degree. In this next table we observe some of these characteristics.
To explore even more about students who transfer...

Total Public Two-Year Institutions
All Students
Students Transferring to Total Public Two-Year Institutions in the Fall and Spring of the Designated Year

Color variation represents the low to high variation within each column.

Degree Completion	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23
Financial Aid Programs at Entry
New Transfer with Pell	5,783	5,272	5,068	4,630	4,692	4,568
Student Demographics
New Transfers, Age 17 to 19 yrs	1,027	1,033	1,060	1,044	1,166	1,147
New Transfers, Age 25 yrs and Older	4,090	3,722	3,336	3,262	3,089	3,059
New Transfers, Age 20 to 24 yrs	8,849	8,064	7,936	7,742	7,530	7,479
Student Effort and Progress
Students earning 06 credits or fewer in First Year	641	553	511	620	560	332
Student/Family Income at Entry
New Transfer, Family Income $0 - $49,999	5,596	5,080	4,760	4,487	4,405	4,189
New Transfer, Family Income $50,000 - $99,999	2,355	2,251	2,114	2,046	2,038	2,034
New Transfer, Family Income $100,000 - $149,999	1,268	1,238	1,201	1,169	1,108	1,189
New Transfer, Family Income $150,000 and Greater	873	866	933	971	1,063	1,078
New Transfer, Family Income Not Reported	3,876	3,385	3,327	3,379	3,174	3,197
Summary Totals
New Transfer (All)	13,968	12,820	12,335	12,052	11,788	11,687
Transfer-specific Characteristics
CC Transfer Students with 15 CC credits or Fewer	2,537	2,519	2,290	2,129	1,927	2,181
CC Transfer Students with between 16 and 30 CC credits	2,187	2,069	1,944	1,847	1,605	1,603
CC Transfer Students with 31 CC credits or Greater (No AA)	474	438	441	379	449	330
AA/AS Awarded Prior to Transfer	7,537	6,689	6,503	6,613	6,704	6,404
AA/AS Awarded Prior to Transfer, 2 or fewer years prior to Transfer	6,931	6,085	5,946	6,048	6,203	5,884
AA/AS Awarded Prior to Transfer, 2.01 to 5 years prior to Transfer	456	456	416	432	367	389
AA/AS Awarded Prior to Transfer, 5 or more years prior to Transfer	150	148	141	133	134	131
AAS Awarded Prior to Transfer (Occ/Technical)	1,033	952	985	947	1,019	1,113

Starting cohorts of fewer than 10 are excluded from reporting.

Notes:

Full Legal Name - "Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University" (Virginia Tech); "The College of William and Mary" (William & Mary)

First Year Retention of Transfer Students

Using the same characteristics provided in the previous table, we now look at how these students fair in terms of retention into the second year of enrollment. Since the cohorts below include students transferring into the four-year institution in both the fall term and the spring term, we count a student being retained as a fall transfer enrolling in the subsequent fall, and a spring transfer enrolling in the subsequent spring. While this may miss some students who demonstrate a more intermittent style of enrollment, those students will ultimately be counted in the completion rates - assuming, of course, they complete a degree.
To explore even more about students who transfer and their retention patterns...

Total Public Two-Year Institutions
All Students
Students Transferring to Total Public Two-Year Institutions in Fall and Spring of the Designated Year, Retention into Second Year

Color variation represents the low to high variation within each column.

Subcohort	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22
Financial Aid Programs at Entry
New Transfer, Full-time with CTG or CTG Plus (Transfer Grant)(detail)	90%	87%	92%	91%	89%	74%
New Transfer with Pell(detail)	81%	77%	80%	81%	82%	58%
Student Demographics
New Transfers, Age 17 to 19 yrs (detail)	87%	81%	88%	90%	87%	64%
New Transfers, Age 25 yrs and Older(detail)	76%	70%	75%	73%	73%	50%
New Transfers, Age 20 to 24 yrs(detail)	85%	81%	85%	87%	85%	63%
Student Effort and Progress
Students earning 06 credits or fewer in First Year(detail)	27%	21%	23%	30%	34%	16%
Summary Totals
New Transfer (All)(detail)	82%	78%	82%	83%	82%	60%
Transfer-specific Characteristics
New Transfer with CTG or CTG PLUS (2010-11 forward)(detail)	90%	87%	92%	91%	89%	74%
CC Transfer Students with 15 CC credits or Fewer(detail)	77%	68%	70%	70%	69%	54%
CC Transfer Students with between 16 and 30 CC credits(detail)	84%	80%	84%	84%	84%	63%
CC Transfer Students with 31 CC credits or Greater (No AA)(detail)	79%	89%	92%	88%	88%	72%
AA/AS Awarded Prior to Transfer(detail)	87%	82%	88%	90%	88%	62%
AA/AS Awarded Prior to Transfer, 2 or fewer years prior to Transfer(detail)	89%	83%	90%	92%	90%	63%
AA/AS Awarded Prior to Transfer, 2.01 to 5 years prior to Transfer(detail)	69%	67%	67%	68%	66%	47%
AA/AS Awarded Prior to Transfer, 5 or more years prior to Transfer(detail)	72%	57%	73%	62%	56%	45%
AAS Awarded Prior to Transfer (Occ/Technical)(detail)	76%	69%	72%	71%	71%	48%

Starting cohorts of fewer than 10 are excluded from reporting.

Notes:

Full Legal Name - "Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University" (Virginia Tech); "The College of William and Mary" (William & Mary)

How Many Completed a Four-year Degree?

As a starting point, we look at the percentage of students in each cohort/subcohort that complete a four-year degree within four-years of transfer. Four years is chosen to provide a parallel equivalent to the six-year graduation rate used for bachelors degree-seeking students. In the available detail tables, we track student success out to 10 years post-entry.
To explore even more about students who transfer and their completion patterns...

Total Public Two-Year Institutions
All Students
Four-year Completion Rates of Students Transferring to Total Public Two-Year Institutions in Fall and Spring of the Designated Years
All Students

Color variation represents the low to high variation within each column.

Outcomes of cohorts with fewer than 10 students are excluded from display (blank cells).

Four-year Completion Rates
Degree Completion	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20
Financial Aid Programs at Entry
New Transfer, Full-time with CTG or CTG Plus (Transfer Grant) (detail)	88%	87%	84%	90%	87%
New Transfer with Pell (detail)	63%	63%	61%	66%	65%
Student Demographics
New Transfers, Age 17 to 19 yrs (detail)	70%	72%	67%	72%	75%
New Transfers, Age 25 yrs and Older (detail)	57%	58%	54%	60%	58%
New Transfers, Age 20 to 24 yrs (detail)	72%	72%	69%	74%	72%
Student Effort and Progress
Students earning 06 credits or fewer in First Year (detail)	10%	8%	10%	10%	9%
Summary Totals
New Transfer (All) (detail)	67%	67%	64%	69%	69%
Transfer-specific Characteristics
New Transfer with CTG or CTG PLUS (2010-11 forward) (detail)	88%	87%	84%	90%	87%
CC Transfer Students with 15 CC credits or Fewer (detail)	48%	54%	48%	50%	49%
CC Transfer Students with between 16 and 30 CC credits (detail)	63%	68%	62%	67%	67%
CC Transfer Students with 31 CC credits or Greater (No AA) (detail)	77%	74%	77%	82%	80%
AA/AS Awarded Prior to Transfer (detail)	77%	76%	71%	78%	76%
AA/AS Awarded Prior to Transfer, 2 or fewer years prior to Transfer (detail)	79%	78%	72%	79%	78%
AA/AS Awarded Prior to Transfer, 2.01 to 5 years prior to Transfer (detail)	56%	57%	56%	58%	57%
AA/AS Awarded Prior to Transfer, 5 or more years prior to Transfer (detail)	66%	54%	45%	64%	53%
AAS Awarded Prior to Transfer (Occ/Technical) (detail)	62%	66%	59%	67%	67%

Notes:

Full Legal Name - "Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University" (Virginia Tech); "The College of William and Mary" (William & Mary)