The Correlates of Credit Loss: How Demographics, Pre-Transfer Academics, and Institutions Relate to the Loss of Credits for Vertical Transfer Students

Despite the long-standing centrality and growing prevalence of transfer in the American postsecondary system, students, college professionals, and policymakers decry the lack of credit transferability between colleges. However, limited research has examined the factors most related to the magnitude of credit loss students experience. This study investigated how students’ pre-transfer academic characteristics, demographic characteristics, and the institutions they transferred to and from influenced the magnitude of credit loss they experienced. Data is drawn from statewide cohorts of vertical transfer students in two states: Hawaii and North Carolina. Although a number of demographic and pre-transfer academic factors were found to relate to credit loss, the predictors of credit loss varied appreciably across states. Given the significant variability in how states and postsecondary systems manage transfer and articulation, the findings point to the need for additional state-level research exploring the determinants of credit loss for transfer students.