RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – College students are debating whether to return on campus as the COVID-19 pandemic continues but also whether they should transfer – in record numbers – according to a new report.
“The pandemic has fundamentally changed the in-person college experience and has shattered the previously-held notions of transfer pattern trends. As students grapple with decisions around returning to their institutions amidst fluid reopening and in-person learning options, many are evaluating whether to return to their enrolled institution in the fall or transfer to an alternate college or university,” said Kerry Cooper, CEO of CollegeSource, which compiled the report.
“Having access to flexible options to meet students’ evolving needs is critical for enabling their continued pursuit of higher education credentials and degrees.”
Based on data gathered from nearly 400 colleges and universities that utilize the CollegeSource “Tramsferology” solution, the company found a year-over-year increase from March through July that:
- Information requests about transfers increased 12.5%
- Overeall searches into transfer/course information surged 14.8%
- Replacement course searches (students looking to transfer credits back to their “home” institution climbed 19.7%
- Interest in Advance Placement courses made up 9 out of 10 course searches
- Time spent online per session also surged nearly 16% to more than 9 minutes
CollegeSource also said the number of searches overall about transferring more than doubled to an average of 124,105 searches per month. The application launched in 2014. Data from 1.5 million students is tracked by CollegeSource.
More data about the report is included in the following infographic:
Source: CollegeSource.com
