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	13,615	13,062	12,965	12,010	11,688
b. Men - Total	6,302	6,074	5,794	5,679	5,191	5,110
c. Women - Total	7,665	7,541	7,268	7,278	6,819	6,574
d. Majority Students - Total	7,859	7,574	7,142	7,138	6,404	6,229
e. Majority Students - Men	3,629	3,466	3,268	3,206	2,833	2,833
f. Majority Students - Women	4,229	4,108	3,874	3,927	3,571	3,393
g. Students of Color - Total	6,109	6,041	5,920	5,827	5,606	5,459
h. Students of Color - Men	2,673	2,608	2,526	2,473	2,358	2,277
i. Students of Color - Women	3,436	3,433	3,394	3,351	3,248	3,181

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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	130	126	127	110	110
George Mason University (details)	3,586	3,519	3,434	3,488	3,329	3,160
James Madison University (details)	768	715	670	665	690	680
Longwood University (details)	185	168	138	163	108	120
Norfolk State University (details)	297	252	270	220	186	187
Old Dominion University (details)	2,137	2,092	2,086	2,166	1,779	1,796
Radford University (details)	616	557	572	520	546	562
University of Mary Washington (details)	364	320	330	335	251	284
University of Virginia (details)	411	441	461	499	467	453
University of Virginia's College at Wise (details)	99	75	52	94	47	47
Virginia Commonwealth University (details)	1,707	1,715	1,561	1,621	1,547	1,385
Virginia Military Institute (details)	25	20	16	15	5	5
Virginia State University (details)	155	149	156	125	161	154
Virginia Tech (details)	711	803	761	820	777	795
William & Mary (details)	108	98	113	121	140	108
Total Public Four-Year Institutions (details)	11,300	11,054	10,746	10,979	10,143	9,846
Private Institutions
George Washington University (details)	175	195	167	145	123	92
Averett University (details)	49	45	35	39	46	56
Bluefield University (details)	108	95	66	51	24	31
Bridgewater College (details)	39	27	27	25	39	26
Christendom College (details)	2	2	4	0	3	1
Eastern Mennonite University (details)	63	59	57	38	26	19
Emory & Henry College (details)	19	28	27	25	27	24
Ferrum College (details)	30	24	19	28	18	18
Hampden-Sydney College (details)	4	2	4	3	5	3
Hampton University (details)	39	29	45	25	6	23
Hollins University (details)	10	17	18	15	9	10
Liberty University (details)	1,020	1,021	1,042	896	911	887
Mary Baldwin University (details)	163	114	24	1	73	85
Marymount University (details)	151	177	177	165	140	116
Randolph College (details)	24	24	14	20	13	10
Randolph-Macon College (details)	26	28	35	25	24	20
Regent University (details)	266	233	211	185	145	146
Roanoke College (details)	53	43	54	50	43	35
Shenandoah University (details)	78	88	95	91	58	81
Southern Virginia University (details)	11	12	6	3	5	8
Sweet Briar College (details)	5	6	6	9	7	5
University of Lynchburg (details)	67	57	50	46	53	46
University of Richmond (details)	60	37	37	31	21	22
Virginia Union University (details)	16	18	9	0	17	39
Virginia Wesleyan University (details)	47	40	66	48	30	39
Washington and Lee University (details)	1	0	0	0	1	0
Total Private, Nonprofit, Four-Year Institutions (details)	2,668	2,561	2,316	1,986	1,867	1,842

Starting cohorts of fewer than 10 are excluded from reporting.
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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
Summary Totals
New Transfer (All)	13,968	13,615	13,062	12,965	12,010	11,688
Student Demographics
New Transfers, Age 17 to 19 yrs	1,027	1,073	1,102	1,107	1,189	1,147
New Transfers, Age 25 yrs and Older	4,090	3,991	3,577	3,558	3,170	3,059
New Transfers, Age 20 to 24 yrs	8,849	8,550	8,380	8,296	7,648	7,480
Financial Aid Programs at Entry
New Transfer with Pell	5,783	5,537	950	4,926	0	0
Student/Family Income at Entry
New Transfer, Family Income $0 - $49,999	5,596	5,334	878	4,765	0	0
New Transfer, Family Income $50,000 - $99,999	2,355	2,329	335	2,161	0	0
New Transfer, Family Income $100,000 - $149,999	1,268	1,291	158	1,223	0	0
New Transfer, Family Income $150,000 and Greater	873	898	90	1,023	0	0
New Transfer, Family Income Not Reported	3,876	3,763	11,601	3,793	12,010	11,688
Student Effort and Progress
Students earning 06 credits or fewer in First Year	641	586	761	448	378	332
Transfer-specific Characteristics
CC Transfer Students with 15 CC credits or Fewer	2,537	2,588	2,337	2,816	3,387	4,073
CC Transfer Students with between 16 and 30 CC credits	2,187	2,100	1,999	3,567	4,872	4,875
CC Transfer Students with 31 CC credits or Greater (No AA)	474	447	450	1,142	2,500	2,048
AA/AS Awarded Prior to Transfer	7,537	7,309	7,056	4,510	827	468
AA/AS Awarded Prior to Transfer, 2 or fewer years prior to Transfer	6,931	6,690	6,478	3,934	321	6
AA/AS Awarded Prior to Transfer, 2.01 to 5 years prior to Transfer	456	465	432	436	368	331
AA/AS Awarded Prior to Transfer, 5 or more years prior to Transfer	150	154	146	140	138	131
AAS Awarded Prior to Transfer (Occ/Technical)	1,033	1,019	1,048	783	349	224

Starting cohorts of fewer than 10 are excluded from reporting.
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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
Summary Totals
New Transfer (All)(detail)	78%	78%	77%	0%	0%	0%
Student Demographics
New Transfers, Age 17 to 19 yrs (detail)	84%	81%	85%	0%	0%	0%
New Transfers, Age 25 yrs and Older(detail)	71%	70%	69%	0%	0%	0%
New Transfers, Age 20 to 24 yrs(detail)	81%	81%	80%	0%	0%	0%
Financial Aid Programs at Entry
New Transfer, Full-time with CTG or CTG Plus (Transfer Grant)(detail)	88%	87%	88%	0%	0%
New Transfer with Pell(detail)	77%	77%	76%	0%	0%
Student Effort and Progress
Students earning 06 credits or fewer in First Year(detail)	26%	21%	23%	0%	0%	0%
Transfer-specific Characteristics
New Transfer with CTG or CTG PLUS (2010-11 forward)(detail)	88%	87%	88%	0%	0%
CC Transfer Students with 15 CC credits or Fewer(detail)	75%	68%	67%	0%	0%	0%
CC Transfer Students with between 16 and 30 CC credits(detail)	83%	80%	83%	0%	0%	0%
CC Transfer Students with 31 CC credits or Greater (No AA)(detail)	79%	89%	90%	0%	0%	0%
AA/AS Awarded Prior to Transfer(detail)	81%	82%	81%	0%	0%	0%
AA/AS Awarded Prior to Transfer, 2 or fewer years prior to Transfer(detail)	82%	83%	82%	0%	0%	0%
AA/AS Awarded Prior to Transfer, 2.01 to 5 years prior to Transfer(detail)	69%	67%	67%	0%	0%	0%
AA/AS Awarded Prior to Transfer, 5 or more years prior to Transfer(detail)	71%	57%	71%	0%	0%	0%
AAS Awarded Prior to Transfer (Occ/Technical)(detail)	71%	69%	66%	0%	0%	0%

Starting cohorts of fewer than 10 are excluded from reporting.
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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
Summary Totals
New Transfer (All) (detail)	68%	63%	64%	16%	0%
Student Demographics
New Transfers, Age 17 to 19 yrs (detail)	68%	68%	67%	10%	0%
New Transfers, Age 25 yrs and Older (detail)	59%	53%	54%	15%	0%
New Transfers, Age 20 to 24 yrs (detail)	72%	67%	69%	17%	0%
Financial Aid Programs at Entry
New Transfer, Full-time with CTG or CTG Plus (Transfer Grant) (detail)	87%	84%	84%	30%	0%
New Transfer with Pell (detail)	62%	59%	61%	15%	0%
Student Effort and Progress
Students earning 06 credits or fewer in First Year (detail)	9%	7%	10%	0%	0%
Transfer-specific Characteristics
New Transfer with CTG or CTG PLUS (2010-11 forward) (detail)	87%	84%	84%	30%	0%
CC Transfer Students with 15 CC credits or Fewer (detail)	49%	52%	48%	9%	0%
CC Transfer Students with between 16 and 30 CC credits (detail)	61%	65%	62%	8%	0%
CC Transfer Students with 31 CC credits or Greater (No AA) (detail)	77%	74%	77%	17%	0%
AA/AS Awarded Prior to Transfer (detail)	78%	70%	71%	20%	0%
AA/AS Awarded Prior to Transfer, 2 or fewer years prior to Transfer (detail)	79%	71%	72%	20%	0%
AA/AS Awarded Prior to Transfer, 2.01 to 5 years prior to Transfer (detail)	60%	56%	56%	17%	1%
AA/AS Awarded Prior to Transfer, 5 or more years prior to Transfer (detail)	70%	50%	45%	16%	0%
AAS Awarded Prior to Transfer (Occ/Technical) (detail)	64%	61%	59%	21%	1%

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