A majority of states have implemented laws and policies to promote the successful transfer of students from community colleges to 4-year institutions.

Preparing students to transfer to a 4-year institution is vital to the community college mission. One-quarter of students who started at a public 2-year institution in 1995–96 intended to transfer to a 4-year institution and earn a bachelor’s degree; by 2001, 51 percent of these students had transferred (indicator 19-2003). Some students whose original goal was less than a bachelor’s degree had also transferred by 2001. The overall transfer rate (including both those who had originally intended to transfer and those who had not) was 29 percent.

A majority of states have instituted policies to facilitate transfers (Education Commission of the States 2001): 30 states have written transfer and articulation policy into legislation, and 40 states have established statewide cooperative agreements among institutions or departments (see table 34-1). To monitor success, 33 states require institutions to report transfer data. To encourage transfers, 18 states provide incentives and rewards such as special financial aid, guaranteed credit transfer, or priority admission. To help prospective transfer students, 26 states have developed statewide articulation guides to describe transfer requirements and procedures. In addition, 23 states have developed a common core of required courses to eliminate confusion about what students need to take. Finally, 8 states have adopted a common course numbering system for 2- and 4-year institutions to clarify which credits are transferable.

While it is useful to monitor how many states have instituted various transfer policies, it is also important to know how many students are affected by them. In fall 2000, 48 percent of all community college students were enrolled in just 5 states (California, Florida, Illinois, New York, and Texas) (see table 34-1). Thus, policies adopted in these and other states with large numbers of community college students have a relatively large impact. In fall 2000, most community college students attended institutions in states with legislation on transfer and articulation (78 percent), cooperative agreements (89 percent), and requirements for reporting transfer data (90 percent). More than half attended institutions in states with common core courses (66 percent) and statewide articulation guides (57 percent).