Dive Brief:

• Nearly 1.2 million college students transferred to new institutions in fall 2024, marking a 4.4% increase in transfers compared to the same period in 2023, according to research released Wednesday from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.
• Transfer students represented 13% of all non-first-year students in fall 2024. Their expanding ranks outpaced reenrollment at the same institution, which grew 2.6% year over year. 
• Compared to fall 2020, transfers rose 7.9% in fall 2024, while nontransfer student numbers fell 3.5% below levels seen four years prior, the clearinghouse found. 

Dive Insight:

Transfers grew annually last fall across all different pathways: from two-year institutions to four-year institutions, laterally from one two-year institution or four-year institution to another, and from four-year institutions to two-year, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. 

Within the two-year to four-year college pathway, the study found 5.5% growth in the number of students transferring from community colleges to the most selective four-year institutions, Doug Shapiro, executive director of the research center, said at a media briefing Tuesday. 

The rate was even higher, 7%, among community college students from lower-income backgrounds. While the growth rate was significant, the number of students in that category represent a relatively small share of transfer students overall, Shapiro noted.

Transfers increased across every racial or ethnic group except White students. They were highest among Black students, at 8.3%, followed by Hispanic students, at 4.4%, according to the report. 

Since 2020, transfer enrollment grew the most at community colleges, increasing 13.5%. That represents over 46,500 students, which has helped but not wholly offset declines in community college enrollment following the pandemic. 

The study also found that a majority of transfer students, 52%, had returned to college after stopping out. That rate is up nearly 3 percentage points since 2020. 

"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," Shapiro said in a statement. “That’s good news, especially for those who are able to return from stopouts by finding colleges that better meet their needs.”

Transferring students very often changed their topic of study. Among students whose major data was available, nearly two-thirds changed their majors after transferring.