In an effort to standardize the definition of the two-year college student transfer rate and to collect national transfer data, the Center for the Study of Community Colleges (CSCC) has solicited data annually since 1989 from a sample of 240 public and private two-year colleges nationwide. The CSCC has standardized the definition of "transfer rate" as meaning all students entering a two-year college in a given year who have no prior college experience and who complete at least 12 college credit units within 4 years divided by the number of that group who take one or more classes at a university within 4 years. In 1991, data on the 1986 entering two-year college student cohorts were provided by 40 colleges in California, 39 colleges in Illinois, and 29 colleges in Texas. For these states, the percentage of students earning at least 12 credits within 4 years was 44.3%, 47.1%, and 56.2%, respectively, while the calculated transfer rates were 20.8%, 21.5%, and 28.2%, respectively. The differences in transfer activity among the three states may be linked to the following factors: (1) California's community college tuition is lower than it is in both Texas and Illinois, making the move to a four-year institution a major cost increase for California students; (2) both Texas and Illinois have upper-division institutions that are designed to take community college transfers at the junior level; and (3) the University of California requires two-year college students to complete 56 units before transferring, and the California State University requires 30 community college units, while public universities in Illinois and Texas allow students to transfer at any time. Nine recommendations for increasing transfer rates are included. (PAA)