> Toolkit Home > Articulation & Transfer > Quick Facts

Quick Facts

• Students at postsecondary institutions transfer in many directions. A study of students who began their postsecondary education in the 1995-96 school year showed that by the year 2001:

  • 25 percent of students who began at public 2-year institutions transferred upward to a 4-year institution
  • 13 percent of students at 2-year institutions made a lateral transfer to another 2-year institution
  • 15 percent of the beginners at 4-year institutions made a lateral transfer to a different 4-year institution
  • 11 percent of beginners at 4-year institutions transferred downward to a less-than-4-year institution
  
  (National Center for Education Statistics, . Descriptive Summary of 1995–96 Beginning Postsecondary Students: Six Years Later)

• Students at 2-year colleges who transfer to a 4-year university or obtain a bachelor’s degree have persistence rates equivalent to students who being at 4-year schools. A study of students who began their postsecondary education in the 1995-96 school year showed that by the year 2001:

  • 44 percent of transfer students obtained a bachelor’s degree by 2001;
  • 38 percent were still enrolled in a four-year school and working towards a degree.
  
  This adds up to an 82% persistence rate.
  (National Center for Education Statistics, Community College Students: Goals, Academic Preparation, and Outcomes)

• Twenty three states have developed statewide general education common core curricula which help eliminate the confusion arising from differing institutional general education requirements and streamlines articulation:

  Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin

  (Education Commission of the States)

• Eight states have adopted statewide common course numbering systems for academic courses with comparable content at two- and four-year institutions, greatly reducing confusion over which courses may transfer and fulfill stated general education requirements:

  Alaska, Florida, Idaho, Mississippi, North Dakota, Oregon, Texas, Wyoming

  
  (Education Commission of the States)

• Some state structures are better at facilitating transfer from 2-year to 4-year institutions. States that set clear goals and have stronger centralized higher-education governance structures tend to have better success with transferring students from 2-year to 4-year institutions. (Wellman)

• State articulation measures are more likely to address upward transfer than lateral or downward transfer. State articulation policies are most likely to mandate transfer of general education or associate degrees. (AACRAO)

• A recent survey of 22 states found that only 18% of the states with state-mandated articulation systems have an enforcement mechanism for ensuring colleges and universities follow articulation regulations. This enforcement mechanism is usually a reporting mechanism and not linked to funding. (AARCAO)

• 46-60% of the nation’s current classroom teachers attended a community college for at least part of their academic experience according to recent transcript studies (DeBeal)

• Maryland approved the first Associate of Arts in Teaching (AAT) in 2001. This transfer degree replaced 353 separate articulation agreements in place before the development of the associate degree. (Maryland Higher Education Commission)

  Sources:

  American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO). (May 2002). Transfer and Articulation: Survey of State Practices.
  http://www.aacrao.org/pro_development/surveys/Transfer _Artic.pdf

  DeBeal, M. Kirk (Summer, 2001). Rethinking the Community College Role in Teacher Training. Council for Basic Education, Basic Education Newsletter, Vol. 45 No. 10.
  http://www.c-b-e.org/be/iss0106/a4debeal.htm

  Educational Testing Service (March 2000). The American Community College Turns 100: A Look at its Students, Programs, and Prospects. Princeton: NJ: Educational Testing Service.
  http://www.ets.org/textonly/research/pic/cc.pdf

  Education Commission of the States (2001). ECS State Notes: Transfer and Articulation Policies. Denver, CO: Education Commission of the States.
  http://www.ecs.org/clearinghouse/23/75/2375.htm

  Maryland Higher Education Commission (July 2002). 2002 Update of the Maryland State Plan for Postsecondary Education.
  http://www.mhec.state.md.us/publications/NewStatePlan/StateplanUpdate.asp

  National Center for Education Statistics (2003). Community College Students: Goals, Academic Preparation, and Outcomes, NCES 2003-164, by Gary Hoachlander, Anna C. Sikora, and Laura Horn. Project Officer: C. Dennis Carroll. Washington, DC: Department of Education.
  http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2003164

  National Center for Education Statistics. Descriptive Summary of 1995–96 Beginning Postsecondary Students: Six Years Later, NCES 2003–151, by Lutz Berkner, Shirley He, and Emily Forrest Cataldi. Project Officer: Paula Knepper. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education.
  http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2003151

  Wellman, Jane V. (2002). State Policy and Community College-Baccalaureate Transfer. The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education and The Institute for Higher Education Policy.
  http://www.highereducation.org/reports/pa_transfers/