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A new report from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center highlights notable transfer enrollment changes and student persistence post-transfer over a two-year period since the pandemic started, disaggregated by academic year, student demographic characteristics, and institution sector and selectivity.
Among the report’s key highlights:
- Higher education experienced a total two-year loss of 296,200 transfer students, or 13.5 percent. All transfer pathways were affected.
- Transfer pathways into two-year institutions experienced double-digit rate declines (-21.3% or -113,300 in lateral transfer; -18.0% or -66,900 in reverse transfer). Transfers to four-year institutions also experienced steep declines (-9.7% or -86,000 in upward transfer; -7.6% or -29,900 in lateral transfer).
- The student persistence rate one term after transferring declined across the board and remained below pre-pandemic levels. Year 2, however, showed signs of recovery among younger students (20 or younger), men, bachelor’s degree-seeking students, and at private nonprofit four-year institutions.
- White, Black, and Native American transfer students all declined precipitously over the last two years (-163,100, -16.4%; -54,800, -16.4%; -3,100, -15.6%, respectively). For Latino/Hispanic students, lateral four-year transfers increased but upward transfers declined, and their persistence rates post-transfer declined.