Transfer enrollment falls 6.9% in spring from a year ago

Higher Ed Dive

Natalie Schwartz

May 3, 2022

Dive Brief: 

• Transfer enrollment dropped 6.9% this spring compared to last year, with upward transfers from two-year colleges to four-year institutions bearing the brunt of the declines, according to data released Tuesday by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.

• Those upward transfers dropped 11.6% year over year this spring. All student groups experienced declines, regardless of age, gender, race or ethnicity.

• These trends wiped out upward transfer enrollment gains seen last year among select groups, including women, and Asian and Latinx students.

Dive Insight: 

The clearinghouse’s latest enrollment report indicates more turbulence is ahead for the higher education sector. Transfer enrollment has declined 16% since the pandemic started, and spring figures show the losses have slowed little as coronavirus restrictions ease.

The losses in upward transfer are most likely a ripple effect of pandemic-related enrollment declines at community colleges, according to the report.

CONTINUE READING