The College Transfer report shows the transfer patterns, demographics and performance data for students who transferred into or out of Michigan colleges or universities.
The more our higher education institutions understand student transfer patterns and characteristics, the better they can support student success. The data can also lead to collaboration between schools that commonly share students to improve student achievement.
This report may not capture every instance where a student transfers to or from a college or university. This is because of how a transfer student is defined for this report (see Historical Changes and About the Data), and because it’s not always possible to match students who have transferred to an independent institution, out of state, or out of the country.
The report is updated in early spring. See the Recently Posted Reports page for when the report was last updated.
Historical Changes
- In the fall of 2014, the report was updated to include transfers that occurred during the school year (not just transfers between school years), to distinguish between undergraduate and graduate enrollment level, to include transfers from 2-year colleges to 4-year universities and to allow for multiple transfer instances of one student. More thorough GPA information was also added.
Use the Location and Report Settings to select a location, school year, and report type.
Data view options include student count or percentage. The College Transfers Snapshot report type also has the following options:
- Snapshot (a graph and table of the selected data)
- Trend (a graph and table showing changes over time)
Hover over a bar on the bar graphs to see the numbers/percentages for that item. Click on a bar for demographics and performance information.
See the MI School Data Quick Start Guide for the basics of navigating the site and customizing a report.
Location Options
These options can be customized in the Location and Report Settings.
Locations Setting options:
- All Colleges (Statewide)
- College Type (2-year or 4-year; in-state, out-of-state, or both)
- Control (public, independent, or both)
The Center for Educational Performance and Information and the National Student Clearinghouse collected the data used to compile this report. The databases used include:
- CEPI’s Student Transcript and Academic Record Repository Collection in the Michigan Student Data System, to identify students who enrolled in a public Michigan college, university or participating nonpublic postsecondary institution. STARR was also used to derive age, degree-seeking status, and demographics. Details can be found at CEPI’s STARR web page.
- NCS’s StudentTracker database, for enrollment information from out-of-state and non-STARR participating colleges or universities.
If you have questions not addressed here or in the linked resources, please contact CEPI customer support at cepi@michigan.gov.
Report Labels
See the glossary for additional terms and acronyms used on MI School Data.
Out-of-State: Any college or university (2- or 4-year, public or nonpublic) outside of Michigan but within the U.S. that reports to NSC.
Transfers to/from Selected College(s): The total number of students who were enrolled in one college/university during their previous academic session, and in their subsequent academic session enrolled in another. These students are no longer enrolled at the first college/university. Students who renewed enrollment in a college/university they previously attended are not classified as a transfer.
Grade Point Average: The cumulative GPA earned at the institution at the end of a student's first semester after transferring, separated into the number or percent of students with a GPA of 2.0 or higher and under 2.0.
Count of GPAs Reported: The number of students whose GPA was reported by the new college/university, separated by GPA of greater than or equal to 2.0, and under 2.0.
Percent of GPAs Reported: Of those students whose GPA was reported by the new college/university, the percent with a GPA greater than or equal to 2.0, and the percent with a GPA less than 2.0.
Data Calculations
Average GPA = sum of transfer student GPAs / count of available GPAs.
Percent of All Incoming/Outgoing Transfers = Transfer student count for an institution, GPA category or demographic group divided by the total student transfer count in the entire state.
Percent of Incoming/Outgoing Transfers to Selected College(s) = Transfer student count for an institution, GPA category or demographic group divided by the total student transfer count in the selected college(s).
