More than 40 million Americans have some college credits but no credential – and they face many barriers when transferring between colleges or reentering the higher education system. The Center for Higher Education Policy and Practice’s (CHEPP) new white paper is a deep dive into the costs of today’s college credit transfer system, and the mindsets and practices that can reduce the barriers and improve degree completion rates.
What We Know
As graduates receive their diplomas from colleges across the country this spring, we can’t forget about their peers who are still struggling to finish, or who stopped out along the way and may never make it to their college graduation. The national 6-year college completion rate is 62%, and more than 40 million Americans have some college credits but no credential. Many of these learners could apply those credits towards a future credential or degree. Yet their potential is limited by a higher education system that has not fully embraced the many pathways today’s learners take to complete a degree. One way to improve college completion and re-engage learners is for higher education to improve college credit transfer systems.
The Center for Higher Education Policy and Practice’s (CHEPP) latest white paper, The Costs of Today’s College Credit Transfer System for Learners and the Mindsets and Practices That Reduce Them, presents a deep dive into the barriers that students face when they transfer between colleges or reenter the system. The paper shares case studies from colleges that have dismantled these barriers to embrace transfer students and their learning. Through stories of student experiences, our paper shows how more seamless credit transfer contributes to successful degree completion and overall well-being.
The Cost of Lost Transfer Credit
Too often, students attempting to re-enroll in college are forced to navigate the confusing web of systems that makes up the higher education credit transfer process. Students can struggle to access their prior college transcripts and be confronted with academic leaders who decide their previous courses are not aligned with the learner’s new program – often with no foundation beyond an individual’s perception of quality. This results in the average transfer student losing 43% of their transfer credits and 1 in 7 students losing all their credits and starting their education over again. This represents an enormous burden to students, in time and financial resources, and contributes to the 2 out of 5 students who don’t complete their degree after transferring.
Improving Retention and Completion Through Credit Transfer
Colleges that accept and recognize transfer credits can buck these trends. One study showed that learners who had over 90% of credits accepted were 2.5 times more likely to graduate than learners with less than half of their credits accepted.
At Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU), learners who transfer in more credits, up to 90, have higher year-over-year retention rates. Many SNHU learners have unique credit transfer stories, with more than 1 in 4 having enrolled at 3 or more higher education institutions before coming to SNHU. One recent graduate, Anson Owen, tried six different schools over 20 years before completing his degree. Throughout his college journey he struggled with housing insecurity, job instability, and health issues. After his wife lost her eyesight, he became the sole earner for his family and is planning to use his degree to make a career change. Jeffrey Koutnik, a veteran and great-grandfather, graduated with his B.S. in Business Administration after starting his college journey more than 45 years ago. He is 64 and planning to use his new degree to advance his career at an Air Force base.
In a higher education ecosystem where the numbers of learners with some credit and no credential increases year-over-year, it is imperative that our colleges work to address inconsistent and fragmented credit transfer systems. By making academic culture more accepting of transfer credits, streamlining systems to validate incoming transfer credit, recognizing more learning outside of college through credit, and creating partnerships for seamless transfer between institutions, more students like Anson and Jeffrey will stay enrolled and complete their college degrees.