BOOSTing Student Success Through Equitable and Affordable Transfer Pathways - Lessons Learned for Higher Education Policymakers and Practitioners from the TransferBOOST Initiative - April 2023

Oct 15, 2026

BOOSTing Student Success Through Equitable and Affordable Transfer Pathways shares lessons from the TransferBOOST initiative, a pilot launched to tackle unexpected, unaffordable, and solvable barriers that derail transfer students from earning bachelor’s degrees. It highlights workforce and mobility benefits of degree attainment, documents stark inequities in transfer and completion outcomes by race and ethnicity, and examines how COVID-19 intensified challenges in navigating the transfer landscape. The report synthesizes five lessons on consistency, enrollment strategy, affordability, joint communication, and strong partnerships among states and institutions.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages26

Reading Time1 h 6 min

AccessFree to download

The TransferBOOST Initiative

TransferBOOST State and Institutional Partners

Five Lessons from the TransferBOOST Initiative

Lesson 1: Ensuring Equity in Transfer Student Outcomes Requires Consistency and Intentionality

Lesson 2: Serving Transfer Students Well is an Essential Enrollment Strategy

Lesson 3: Institutions Can Make Pathways More Affordable and Improve their Own Financial Stability

Lesson 4: Partners Should Jointly Communicate the Pathway with an Emphasis on the Benefits

Lesson 5: Strong State and Institutional Partnerships Drive Transfer Work

Updating the Status Quo Through Sustainable Transfer Pathways

Appendix

Sample Messaging Framework

Sample Joint Recruitment Email to Current Student

Acknowledgements

BOOSTing Student Success Through Equitable and Affordable Transfer Pathways Lessons Learned for Higher Education Policymakers and Practitioners from the TransferBOOST Initiative An initiative by: Katelyn DiBenedetto and Amanda Janice Roberson, IHEP Jessica Collis and Rachelle Sharpe, HCM Strategists Lara Couturier and Cristen Moore, Consultants for HCM Strategists With contributions from Katie Hagan, rpk Group, and Christine Flanagan, Kinetic Seeds April 2023 Table of Contents Table of Contents .................................................................................................................2 The TransferBOOST Initiative...............................................................................................5 TransferBOOST State and Institutional Partners ..............................................................6 Five Lessons from the TransferBOOST Initiative ..............................................................6 Lesson 1: Ensuring Equity in Transfer Student Outcomes Requires Consistency and Intentionality .................................................................................................................7 Lesson 2: Serving Transfer Students Well is an Essential Enrollment Strategy ..................9 Lesson 3: Institutions Can Make Pathways More Affordable and Improve their Own Financial Stability ................................................................................................................ 11 Lesson 4: Partners Should Jointly Communicate the Pathway with an Emphasis on the Benefits ................................................................................................................... 14 Lesson 5: Strong State and Institutional Partnerships Drive Transfer Work ..................... 18 Updating the Status Quo Through Sustainable Transfer Pathways ................................... 21 Appendix ............................................................................................................................22 Sample Messaging Framework .......................................................................................22 Sample Joint Recruitment Email to Current Student ......................................................23 Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................... 24 Over half of all “good jobs”(full-time positions with family-sustaining wages and benefits) in today’s economy require a bachelor’s degree.1 Individuals with a college degree have greater employment opportunities, higher wages, and better access to benefits such as health care and retirement funds, 2 and college graduates and their families benefit from the increased social and economic mobility that a degree affords. Research from the Postsecondary Value Commission found that increasing the postsecondary attainment rates of Black, Latinx and/or Hispanic, Indigenous, and Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) students, students from low-income backgrounds, and women—as well as the intersectional identities within and across these groups—generates measurable economic and non-economic returns for individuals and their families, communities, and society writ large. Despite these impressive benefits of a four-year degree, shortcomings in transfer pathways derail thousands of students from earning a bachelor’s degree each year, which is a loss for each student, their family, the workforce, and our shared future.3 For every 100 students who enroll in community colleges across the country, 31 transfer to a four-year institution and only 15 complete a bachelor’s degree within six years.4 Put another way, 80 percent of community college students intend to earn a bachelor’s degree, but only 15 percent do so. Disaggregated data also reveal deep inequities. For example, completion rates for a bachelor’s degree within six years o

FAQs

What problem does the TransferBOOST initiative aim to address?

It targets barriers along the transfer journey—especially unexpected and unaffordable obstacles—that derail too many students from earning a bachelor’s degree.

Why are equitable and consistent transfer pathways emphasized?

The report links improved transfer student outcomes to consistency and intentionality, noting that inequities in completion rates persist across racial and ethnic groups.

How does the report suggest improving affordability for transfer pathways?

It recommends that institutions work to make pathways more affordable and strengthen their own financial stability while improving access for transfer students.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Sophia Brooks