Student Transfer Rates to Four-Year Universities Continue to Rebound at CCSF

By Diane Ayerdi 

dayerdi@mail.ccsf.edu 

City College is experiencing a positive change in student transfer rates to four-year universities, with the numbers continuing to rise into Spring 2025, building on momentum that began in Spring 2024 after a temporary decline between 2021 and 2023 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Student transfer rates had declined during the past three years, mainly due to the pandemic. The drop in transfer rates was also caused by several other factors, including students moving out of state, economic hardship and lack of guidance and information on how to complete the transfer process. 

“I think this is a general trend that is happening across many community colleges because the cost of tuition at universities is expensive. The cost of living in the Bay Area and specifically in San Francisco is extremely high and so I believe many students do not want to take on large amounts of student loan debt and instead prefer to gain skills and knowledge by entering the workforce, seeking out job training, and/or short term certificate programs that can prepare them for the world of work,” Jimmy Ly, career counselor said. 

“Student transfer rates have dropped not just at City College, but at a national level as well due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, Community College enrollment dropped, causing transfer rates to decrease. But, although the transfer rates did go down, they are now starting to rebound in Spring 2024,” Gabriela Alvarenga, Transfer Center Director and Counselor at the CCSF Transfer Center, said. 

This upward trend has continued into Spring 2025, with more students returning to transfer pathways.

Alvarenga added, “There were various factors during the COVID-19 pandemic that affected students and their families and caused them not to transfer. The greatest factor was the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to a shift in the population; a lot of students and their families moved out of the Bay Area to other cities and states. Some students didn’t like online courses and took a break until classes were restored in person and people moved for work.” 

The delay in transferring can be caused by many different types of reasons and situations in life. “There’s a combination of reasons why there’s a delay in transferring-maybe students don’t have all of the information about the courses that can transfer over, or haven’t made a decision about a four-year school and program. It also really depends on the kinds of relationships the schools have with each other,” Dr. Lisa Cooper Wilkins, Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs at City College, said.

Recent data from City College’s Office of Research and Planning shows a decline in the student transfer rates to four-year colleges. According to the “CCSF Fact Sheet-Transfers,” during 2020-2021, 1,591 City College students transferred to four-year universities, followed by 1,370 students in 2021-2022, 1,313 students in 2022-23 and 1,217 students in 2023-24. 

The decline in student transfer rates has also impacted community colleges like City College financially. “The decline in transfer rates impacts community colleges in many ways, but I think the major impact is the amount of funding the school receives. I also think this likely impacts the number of enrolled students at the college as well,” Ly explains. 

Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic and economic factors that contributed to a decline in student transfer rates to four-year colleges, some of these colleges have recently seen increases in student transfer rates. As Alvarenga explains: “California State University campuses reported a 4% increase in transfer rates for Fall 2024, as well as the University of California campuses reporting an 11% transfer rate increase for Fall 2024.” 

The latest data provided in the Fall 2023 report of “Transfer and Progress” by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center included: “Despite ongoing recovery efforts of the higher education community to regain pre-pandemic normalcy, there are lingering COVID-19 impacts on transfer enrollment. In particular, community colleges were the most affected sector of higher education during the pandemic, with unprecedented declines in freshmen, continuing students, adult learners, and transfer-in enrollments, which had a ripple effect on overall transfer enrollment across higher education sectors. In Fall 2023, we began to see signs of recovery with upward transfers among community college students increasing for the first time since the start of the pandemic. The number of community college students transferring to four-year colleges increased by 7.7% in Fall 2023, driving the overall transfer enrollment growth by 5.3% compared to the previous year.” 

The existing outreach programs at City College show great promise to successfully assist students with the transfer process to four-year colleges. They represent educational tools that can be very helpful and valuable for students. According to Alvarenga: “There are two big forms of resources available for students who want to transfer that came out of the pandemic. The UC and CSU systems both created free online tools to help students plan and get an idea of transfer requirements, as well as to keep track of their own requirements. The City College Transfer Center is doing a lot more outreach and sending messages to students through these tools.” 

“The CSUs and UCs have a big initiative in order to increase transfer admissions. They both start from the high school level with students who are not admitted to CSUs or UCs. There’s a guaranteed admissions program tied to community colleges for transfer students,” Alvarenga added. 

The Transfer Center is also doing much more outreach to inform prospective transfer students about the various financial aid opportunities available. “Finances play a big factor with regard to whether students will transfer. A lot of students are not aware of the type of aid they can receive at four-year colleges. Additionally, there are also scholarships available to students. The UCs and CSUs have middle-class scholarships in order to help fund their college tuition. Knowing about the different types of financial aid available will make students more likely to transfer.” 

As Cooper-Wilkins shares: “I am really proud of the work our completion center is doing, our transfer center is doing and all of those cross collaborations with faculty and the programs. Creating program plans that help students understand what they are doing. It’s so much work that has to happen across the college collaboratively to support the students' success in the transfer realm.” 

With student transfer rates on the rise again, there is much hope that City College will continue to recover in Fall 2025 through 2026 from the decline caused by the pandemic and other factors. “We’re slowly getting our enrollment and transfer levels back up again at CCSF. I feel that having more information that students can easily access on various platforms is the best practice approach to disseminating information to students, as well as having a more robust Transfer Center to continue to help improve transfer rates,” Alvarenga said.

As City College continues to rebuild, the rise in transfer rates reflects more than just numbers—it signals renewed opportunity, resilience, and the power of community-driven support. For students navigating uncertainty, these pathways offer not only access to higher education but a chance to reclaim their futures.