MARYLAND HIGHER EDUCATION COMMISSION POLICY BRIEF - Uncounted Credits: How Transfer Students Lose Momentum Toward a Bachelor's Degree in Maryland - Policy brief

Oct 15, 2026

Losing credits during transfer slows students’ progress toward a bachelor’s degree in Maryland. This policy brief estimates credit loss by analyzing “excess credits” earned at Maryland community colleges that do not count toward bachelor’s degree requirements. Findings show excess credits are common (around nine on average), with disparities by race and higher accumulation among students with more than 60 community college credits or longer gaps before four-year enrollment.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages1

Reading Time3 min

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Uncounted Credits: Transfer Credit Loss Overview

Using Excess Credits to Estimate Credit Loss

Key Findings

What Else Can Maryland Do?

Need for Further Direct Measures

MARYLAND HIGHER EDUCATION COMMISSION POLICY BRIEF Uncounted Credits: How Transfer Students Lose Momentum Toward a Bachelor's Degree in Maryland January 2026 Losing credits during transfer is a big issue that can slowdown students’ progress. Research shows credit loss happens when community college credits don’t transfer or don’t count toward a four-year degree. It’s hard to measure because there’snot always clear data on which credits actually count. This brief looks at 'excess credits'—extra credits earned at Maryland community colleges that don’t end up counting toward a bachelor’s degree—as a way to estimate credit loss. The goal is to create a starting point for tracking Maryland’s progress in reducing this problem. For the complete findings, please see the full report at: [https://mhec.maryland.gov/publications/Docume](https://mhec.maryland.gov/publications/Docume)[nts/Research/PolicyReports/MHECPolicyBriefVol6.pdf](nts/Research/PolicyReports/MHECPolicyBriefVol6.pdf) Excess credits Total credits applied to Bachelor’s degree MD CC credits Note: this chart is conceptual and does not reflect the real values. Total credits earned in the community college Credits applied to Bachelor’s degree Excess credit s Finding 1: Excess credits are a problem facing many Maryland transfer students. Overall, transfer students had about 9 excess credits, roughly the equivalent of three community college classes. \# of excess credits \# of CC credits applied to Bachelor’s degree 8.7 credits 15.0% Overall transfer 10.9 credits Transfer with Associate or 60 credits 3.8 credits Other transfer Finding 2: While many transfer students in Maryland have little to no excess credit—with nearly all of their community college coursework applying toward their bachelor’s degrees—others lose a substantial share, with more than half of their credits failing to apply. Finding 3: Maryland Students who earned more than 60 community college credits and those with long gaps between their community college and four-year enrollments had the most excess credits. No gap 1 year 2 years 3 years and more \# of CC credits applied to Bachelor 's degree Excess credits What Else Can Maryland Do? • To strengthen transfer pathways, more work must be done to understand and address credit loss. This analysis finds that excess credits are widespread. The data also reveal disparities by race: Black transfer students were more likely than their white peers to accrue excess credits. These patterns point to potential structural inequities and inefficiencies in the transfer process. Further analysis is needed to identify the drivers of excess credit accumulation and to assess its impact on student outcomes. • Efforts to streamline and accelerate the transfer process may improve credit applicability for Maryland students. The analysis found that students who had gap years before transfer faced a higher risk of losing credits, as older coursework may no longer align with four-year program requirements or be accepted under institutional policies. These findings highlight the importance of timely transfer and suggest that policies supporting early advising, clear transfer pathways, and credit portability could reduce credit loss and improve degree efficiency. • Direct measures of credit loss are essential for improving transfer success. While excess credits offer some insight into the issue of credit loss, they provide only a partial picture as they can only be tracked for students who successfully complete Bachelor’s degrees. To fully understand the size of the problem of credit loss, and to see how credit loss may impact transfer student outcomes, it is crucial to collect student-level data on denied and accepted transfer courses.

FAQs

How does the policy brief estimate credit loss for Maryland transfer students?

It uses “excess credits” as a starting point—credits earned at Maryland community colleges that do not end up counting toward a bachelor’s degree.

What do the findings say about how common excess credits are?

Transfer students overall had about 9 excess credits on average, roughly equivalent to three community college classes.

Which students are most likely to accumulate excess credits?

Students who earned more than 60 community college credits and those with long gaps between community college and four-year enrollment had the most excess credits.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Aria Callaghan