College Transfer Admission

Only a fraction of research collected on the college admission process reflects the experience of fully one-third of the nation's students who enter two- or four-year colleges and end up transferring to another institution. The Special Report on the Transfer Admission Process, issued today by the National Association for College Admission Counseling, aims to fill the void by illuminating details surrounding transfer admission.

According to a NACAC survey, which was administered in partnership with a dissertation project at Michigan State University, average acceptance rates at colleges and universities nationwide differed for transfer (64 percent) and first year students (69 percent). A more striking divergence between the two student categories emerged when factors in the admission process were evaluated. When a postsecondary student decides to transfer to another school, criteria measured on the secondary level becomes much less significant, as admission offices greatly favor postsecondary experience. In the transfer process, postsecondary GPA is clearly the most important factor, with more than 90 percent of surveyed institutions rating it as "considerably important." Only 12 percent gave the same rating to high school GPA and only seven percent gave that rating to standardized test scores.

The report also includes a breakdown of the survey results by institutional characteristics:

- Private colleges rated nearly every admission factor in the transfer process as more important when compared to their public counterparts.

- Smaller institutions tended to place more emphasis on both direct observations of a student (high school GPA, standardized test scores, essay or writing samples) and those factors that are largely outside of a student's control (quality of the high school and prior postsecondary institution, ability to pay, alumni relations).

- Larger institutions tended to rate overall postsecondary GPA, grades in transferrable courses and state or county of residence more highly. They were also more likely to view being more than 25 years old as a positive in the transfer admission decision.

- More selective institutions placed greater emphasis on almost all of the factors when compared to less selective institutions. The more selective schools also were more likely to view plans to enroll part-time negatively.

The report also holds data that could be beneficial to postsecondary institutions looking at new applicant pools in a time of shifting demographics. The Department of Education recently projected drops in high school graduates for many states in the next decade, and transfer students could potentially fill some enrollment gaps. The NACAC report found that the average yield rate for transfers was 64 percent, compared to an average of 42 percent for first-year students.