Top 5 Reasons that Students Transfer Colleges
October 9, 2025
When I was applying for college, the biggest thing I wanted to do was get out of the small town where I grew up. To me, that meant also applying to schools that were only out of state. But I could have easily applied for colleges on the other side of my state and gotten out of dodge just as easily. It’s not like I grew up in Rhode Island—I grew up in western Pennsylvania.
But I went from Pennsylvania to the University of Maryland, and by the second year there, I realized that I needed to take out a substantial number of student loans. This was despite maxing out on Pell Grants and other scholarships. I started to ask myself: should I transfer to an in-state school?
That concern—whether or not you have enough money to keep paying for the university you’re attending—is one of the top reasons that students transfer colleges. But it’s certainly not the only one. In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the top reasons that students transfer colleges—and what it might mean for you if you decide to transfer.
Top Reasons that Students Transfer Colleges
1) Transferring from a two-year to a four-year institution
One of the most frequently overlooked reasons that students transfer is because they’re transferring from a two-year institution, like a community college, to a four-year university. This is one of the biggest benefits of attending community college. Students accumulate the credits and skills necessary to be competitive enough to transfer into a college or university where they can earn their bachelor’s degree. If you’re graduating from high school and you don’t quite have the grades and test scores to get into the college that you want to attend, you can always take a year or two at community college, work hard, save some money, and transfer. The best thing: your bachelor’s degree won’t look any different from any other student who spent all four years at that university.
Unfortunately, however, students need to remain vigilant if they want to succeed going this route. While 80% of community college students want to go on to earn their bachelor’s degree, only about a third of them transfer to a four-year school. Of that third, fewer than half of the students actually get their bachelor’s degree, even six years after entering community college. That’s according to a 2024 report by the National Student Clearinghouse.
2) To save money
I’m not the only person in the world who thought about transferring because of money. Students might encounter a change in their personal or familial financial situation after the first or second year at a specific university. That change could spur students to want to transfer to another school that’s a better economic fit.
If you’re struggling to make ends meet while attending your current college or university, it’s worth taking the time to see if there’s a more cost-effective solution for you out there. But does it actually make a difference? At the end of this article, we’ll take a look at a recent study that examined the outcomes of student transfers—and whether or not it actually saves money.
Still, if you like the university you’re attending and you think attending another school simply won’t motivate you to get your degree, it might be worth re-thinking your transfer, looking for new sources of grants, scholarships, or jobs to help you save money, and sticking with the school where you feel most excited to keep studying.
3) To study something else
Changing your major might also mean changing where you go to school. Depending on the switch you want to make, the college or university you’re currently attending might not offer the major of your new dreams. Or, you might find that you have the grades to transfer to a school that has a much better program in the new major that you want to study.
If you’ve figured out that you want to change your major, but you’re not sure if you want to transfer because of it, it’s worth scheduling a meeting with your academic advisor to see what you might need to do to change your major and still graduate on time. If you transfer to another college or university, you might need to retake certain courses that you’ve already taken if they’re not accepted as transfer credits. That could extend your time toward earning your degree.
This could be worth it if you stand to transfer to a much more prestigious university or program, but it could also be a mark on the “con” side of your pro/con list, especially if you’re trying to save money.
If you do find that you want to jump ship, I’d suggest also emailing the admissions office of your desired university and seeing if someone can meet with you to discuss the possibility of transferring all your credits. Before you apply and commit, make sure you know how many of your credits will transfer and how much time you might need to extend your degree.
4) To find a better fit
When I was applying to colleges, I thought I really wanted the “campus” experience. I thought I wanted to be near a major city, but not in one. And I went to a really big high school, so I thought I wanted to go to a really big university. In the end, I went to the University of Maryland. It ticked all my boxes: campus, near a city (UMD is on the Washington, D.C., Metro line), and big (there are more than 40,000 students).
But when I look back as an adult who now has more than a decade of experience in higher education, I can see that I probably would have done much better at a small liberal arts college. I did love the excitement of being on a big campus and going to college football games, but I’m also a pretty dedicated bookworm, and I think I would have thrived academically in smaller classrooms and in a place with fewer distractions.
I tell you this story to say that, sometimes, our 18-year-old selves don’t really know what we need. We have certain preconceptions and ideas about what college will be like based on stories we hear or things we see in TV and movies, but we never really know until we get there.
If you find yourself constantly feeling like you’re in the wrong place or you just don’t fit, you might be thinking about transferring based on fit.
If that’s the case, you should think about those “fit criteria” and make a list of what you’re looking for—and what you can’t find at your current university. The National Association for College Admission Counseling lists the following things as the most important elements in determining fit:
- Average debt upon graduation: This can help you figure out if you’re setting yourself up for economic success
- Safety: This can help you determine if you’re going to feel like you’re safe on campus, which is the first step to feeling like you can study and succeed there, too.
- Internship opportunities: Having the ability to connect with resources outside of campus goes a long way towards helping you feel like you’re making a solid investment.
- Retention efforts/student advising: What does your college (or dream college) do to keep students coming back every year? Retention has more to do with throwing big campus events. It’s about making sure students succeed academically so that they can keep progressing in their major without having to repeat coursework.
- Most popular student events: This factor will help you determine the vibe. Examining this factor will also entail doing a bit of self-reflection. Is the most popular student event the fall football games? And did you find that you actually don’t like tailgating and cramming yourself into the stadium? You might find that you can express your school spirit in ways outside of the sports stadium at a different kind of school. (Heads up: this can also work in the other direction, too!)
- Graduation rates: How likely are students to graduate in four years? Six years? Graduation rates, along with average debt and employment rates, will help you feel secure in spending your time and money at your school.
- Career services: When it’s time to graduate, does your university offer career counseling services? Help with networking? Resumes? And interviews? A career counseling office will help you put your degree to good use.
- Employment rates for graduates like you: The most important part here is “graduates like you.” If you get your desired degree from this school, how likely are you to find a job?
5) To move closer to (or farther from) home
Students who transfer often have proximity to home in mind. Some want to make their way closer to home due to the health/care of themselves or family members, work, culture, or homesickness while others simply want to save money and live at home rather than on campus.
Alternatively, some students want to migrate farther from home in order to find new opportunities, to study a specific discipline that’s not available where they live, or to experience a new culture.
In any case, transferring in order to change your physical location can change your college experience. Is it worth it? That’s a question only you can answer.
Are There Benefits to Transferring?
Look, at the end of the day, whether you decide to transfer and how long it takes you is your personal choice. Nobody gets to make that choice for you, and how hard you work after transferring is all up to you.
That said, a 2023 study found that students who transferred were more likely to do two things:
- Take more time to graduate and
- Spend more money on their degrees.
For that reason, the study’s authors advocate for clearer and more well-funded transfer pipelines that help students make their moves. They say that those things are particularly important for low-income students and students of color, who are historically unrepresented in transfer studies. The authors go on to say that continued improvement of cost-effectiveness at community colleges and clearer pipelines to transfer from two-year to four-year schools will only help more students graduate in the long run.
As far as my own story is concerned, I can tell you only this: I didn’t end up transferring. I got a job as an RA to save money. And I graduated in four years and got a job in August after graduating in May. I did spend lots of money on my student loans. Would I have saved money if transferred? Maybe. But then again—according to the stats—maybe not.
Additional Transfer Resources
