Transfer students less likely to finish four year education

A recent study issued by IU’s Project on Academic Success revealed that only one in 10 “reverse transfer” students — students who begin their higher education at a four-year institution but transfer to a two-year institution — had completed or were still pursuing a degree six years after transferring.

In addition, only one in six reverse transfer students return to their original four-year institution.

The study, “Reverse Transfer: A National View of Student Mobility from Four-Year to Two-Year Institutions,” analyzed six years of data collected from students who entered four-year institutions in 2005. It included data from more than 1.2 million students.

“In most states, policy-makers are increasingly encouraging students to start at two-year colleges and then transfer,” said Don Hossler, lead author of the study, in a press release.

Like transferring from a two-year to a four-year institution, reverse transferring decreases the cost of degree completion.

According to U.S. News and World Report, which annually publishes its “America’s Best Colleges” report, a year’s tuition at a community college costs an average of $3,000, compared to an average of $8,000 a semester for in-state tuition at a four-year institution.

The study provides an in-depth look at reverse transfer and gives insight as to how it relates to education policy.

Among the attempts to streamline students’ college experiences is Indiana House Enrolled Act 1220, which took effect July 1 and allows state legislation to limit the number of credit hours necessary to obtain a degree.

The report offered several recommendations for policy makers in the field of higher education, suggesting four-year institutions invest in ways to facilitate re-enrollment and encourage reverse transfer students to return to four-year institutions.

The study also suggested states provide more support to reverse transfer students seeking to complete their
degrees.

­— Kirsten Clark