Challenges in calculating two-year college student transfer rates to four-year colleges

Two-year colleges play an important role in facilitating transfers to four-year institutions. This has resulted in the demand to assess how well the community college systems train students for successful transfer to four-year bachelor-granting institutions. Existing datasets on two-year college transfer rates provides inconsistent and, sometimes, even contradicting answers. In this paper, we examine exactly why and how there are such varied results on two-year college transfer rates. Our findings indicate that there is no valid or universal measure of successful transfer programs. We find that such a measure is hindered by six factors: structural, technological, economic, governmental, and social. These factors make reliable comparisons of national and even statewide transfer success rates problematic. We suggest that policy makers should review existing datasets on two-year college transfer rates with a knowledgeable eye to avoid drawing inferences or making decisions based upon a review of potentially inaccurate comparisons.