The Center for the Study of Community Colleges (CSCC) in Los Angeles, California has examined transfer data for students at two-year institutions from 1984 through 1987. In the CSCC studies, transfer rates are calculated by dividing the number of students entering a community college with no prior college experience and completing at least 12…

Inconsistencies in the definition of transfer from two-year to four-year institutions and in the calculation of the transfer rate have given rise to incongruous findings. For example, one researcher in 1989 reported a transfer rate of less than 12% for the colleges in Illinois at the same time that the Chancellor's Office of the California…

Accurate data on the number of students who transfer from two-year colleges to senior colleges are not available because the ways of counting transfers vary greatly from system to system and state to state. While most studies define transfer students as those who have taken courses at a community college and subsequently enroll at a senior…