Transfer Pathways

The most common transfer pathway is from two-year community colleges to four-year colleges within a state. Students beginning their collegiate education at community colleges save "enormously" on tuition, since most live with their parents and many work full-time.

Think of us as the lowest-cost on ramp to an undergraduate degree ... Americans are pretty good at shopping price and value.
-- Glenn DuBois of Virginia community colleges, 2010

But there have been transfers occurring in the other direction, with students from private universities switching to state schools after two years, sometimes as a way to reduce cost. And many students switch between four-year colleges. Some students find themselves unhappy with their current college, and decide to switch for a variety of reasons, usually having to do with a program of study or a feeling about a particular school that the "fit" is not right, or concerns over cost. A notable example of a high profile transfer was United States President Barack Obama, who transferred from Occidental College to Columbia University during his college days.