Transfer Demographics Profile

Definitions

In addition to a definition section, each portal will have a “question mark” Question Mark that provides detailed guidance should you require further assistance.

Transfer

A student is defined as a transfer if she makes a clean break from her college of attendance in an academic year where a clean break in turn is defined to have occurred in any of the following situations:

  • The student formally transfers credits from her college of attendance to another institution.
  • The student does not transfer credit to another institution but attends a single institution of higher education that is different from her original college of attendance.
  • The student does not transfer credit to another institution but attends multiple institutions and attempts the maximum number of credit hours in an institution other than her original college of attendance.
  • The definition does not include transients – students who attend an institution for a few credit hours over a brief period before returning to their original colleges.

Outward Transfer

An outward transfer is defined as the outward movement or movement from a previously home institution to another destination institution.

Inward Transfer

An inward transfer is defined as the inward movement or movement to a new destination institution from a previously home institution.

Campus Type

A campus type is defined as the three categories of Ohio public institutions: 2-year institutions which are also commonly referred to as community, state or technical Colleges; 4-year main campus institutions which are commonly referred to as 4-year universities; and 4-year regional institutions which are regional or branch campuses from a 4-year main campus institution.

Academic Concentration

An academic concentration is defined as the classification given to an institutions program and/or major that corresponds to the Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP).  This allows for the standardizations of the fields of study and program completions across all higher education institutions in the United States.

Pell Eligible

Pell Eligible is defined as an individual who has financial need and, through the completion of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), the United States Department of Education awards an amount of money through the Federal Pell Grant. 

Academic Year

An academic year is defined as the Summer and Fall semesters of the previous calendar year and the Spring semester of the current year.  An example is as follows: Academic Year 2020 includes Summer semester of 2019, Fall semester of 2019, and Spring semester of 2020.

Transfer Demographics Profile

 

 

Background

One of the four main objectives outlined in the research agenda for the Ohio Articulation and Transfer Network (OATN) is the quantification of transfer movements among public institutions of higher education in Ohio.  This includes aspects such as transfer volume, transfer direction, as well as the aggregation of these components by campus, college, and sector.  This assessment of transfer has not only enabled the OATN to provide information about transfer in higher education annually, but it has also facilitated the ability to calculated transfer-facilitated cost savings, make comparisons and inferences between transfer and continuing students, as well as evaluate the effectiveness of policies and initiatives that are specifically designed to support student learning needs and aspirations in the state of Ohio. 

While the compilation of the annual transfer volume and direction of Ohio’s students has demonstrated its usefulness, the OATN Oversight Board made a recommendation to the research staff that would assist in providing a more comprehensive assessment of transfers in Ohio.  The recommendation to examine what kind of students are transferring amongst Ohio’s public institutions of higher education in addition to the quantification was added to strengthen the existing analysis of the transfer research methods.

Utilizing the same methods and processes from which transfer students are defined and identified, the following characteristics were obtained from each identified transfer student: Age, Sex, Race, Pell Grant Eligibility, Regional Institutional Classification, and Academic Concentrations.  These descriptive statistics were made possible by identifying the students who are transfers matching their information within the Higher Education Information (HEI) system, and constructing a profile that can be used for future analyses. 

The Transfer Student Demographic Profile will allow you to access and view the following content:

  • Demographics (e.g. Race, Gender, Federal Pell Grant Eligibility) of transfer students’ outward/inward movement from one institution to one or multiple institutions by a selected year.
  • Total enrollment and the outward/inward student transfer movement of a selected institution over the available time period.
  • Total number of outward/inward transfer student movement from a selected institution and their corresponding destination institution by college campus type over the available time period.
  • Quantification and classification of outward/inward academic concentrations from a selected institution over the available time period.