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Transfer Students Get Less Grants from Colleges

Written by Mark Kantrowitz | May 3, 2020

Students who transfer tend to get thousands of dollars less in institutional grant aid from their colleges.  The decrease in institutional grants is much greater about private non-profit colleges than public colleges. Students who have better grades tend to get less institutional grant money.

Among students in Bachelor’s degree programs, students who previously attended a community college get $4,055 less in total grant aid, a 34% decrease, and $4,701 less in institutional grant aid, a 42% decrease. Transfer students are also 12.3% less likely to receive institutional aid, based on data from the 2015-2016 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:16).

There is a similar result based on the number of colleges attended. Among students in Bachelor’s degree programs, students who attended two or more colleges got $984 less in total grants and $1,644 less in institutional grants than students who attended just one college, their current college.

The amount of institutional grants decreases with the number of colleges attended by the student. For example, the average institutional grant is $1,549 less for students who attended two colleges and $3,588 less for students who attended three colleges.

The decrease in institutional grants for students who attended a community college is much greater among private colleges than public colleges. The decrease in average grants at public colleges is $1,401, a 26% decrease, compared with a decrease of $6,871 at private non-profit colleges, a 38% decrease. The smallest decrease in institutional grants was $202 at private for-profit colleges, a 7% decrease.

Getting good grades, whether in high school or college, does not yield more institutional grant aid for transfer students who previously attended a community college. In fact, it’s quite the opposite, with students who have a 3.5 GPA in college getting $5,879 less institutional grant aid, compared with $4,771 less for students with a 3.0 to 3.49 GPA, $3,546 less for students with a 2.5 to 2.99 GPA and $2,740 less for students with less than a 2.5 GPA.

The decrease in average institutional grants does not vary by much according to year in school, just a few hundred dollars.

The 2017 follow-up to the 2011-2012 Beginning Postsecondary Students longitudinal student (BPS:12/17) has similar results. The average institutional grant was $2,760 lower among students who attempted to transfer credits to their current institution, as compared with students who never transferred, a 31% decrease.

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About the author

Mark Kantrowitz is a nationally-recognized expert on student financial aid, scholarships and student loans. His mission is to deliver practical information, advice and tools to students and their families so they can make informed decisions about planning and paying for college. Mark writes extensively about student financial aid policy. He has testified before Congress and federal/state agencies about student aid on several occasions. Mark has been quoted in more than 10,000 newspaper and magazine articles. He has written for the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Reuters, Huffington Post, U.S. News & World Report, Money Magazine, Bottom Line/Personal, Forbes, Newsweek and Time Magazine. He was named a Money Hero by Money Magazine. He is the author of five bestselling books about scholarships and financial aid, including How to Appeal for More College Financial Aid, Twisdoms about Paying for College, Filing the FAFSA and Secrets to Winning a Scholarship. Mark serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Student Financial Aid and the editorial advisory board of Bottom Line/Personal (a Boardroom, Inc. publication). He is also a member of the board of trustees of the Center for Excellence in Education. Mark previously served as a member of the board of directors of the National Scholarship Providers Association. Mark is currently Publisher of PrivateStudentLoans.guru, a web site that provides students with smart borrowing tips about private student loans. Mark has served previously as publisher of the Cappex.com, Edvisors, Fastweb and FinAid web sites. He has previously been employed at Just Research, the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Bitstream Inc. and the Planning Research Corporation. Mark is President of Cerebly, Inc. (formerly MK Consulting, Inc.), a consulting firm focused on computer science, artificial intelligence, and statistical and policy analysis. Mark is ABD on a PhD in computer science from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). He has Bachelor of Science degrees in mathematics and philosophy from MIT and a Master of Science degree in computer science from CMU. He is also an alumnus of the Research Science Institute program established by Admiral H. G. Rickover.

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