The U.S. News Short List, separate from our overall rankings, is a regular series that magnifies individual data points in hopes of providing students and parents a way to find which undergraduate or graduate programs excel or have room to grow in specific areas. Be sure to explore The Short List: College, The Short List: Grad School andThe Short List: Online Programsto find data that matters to you in your college or grad school search.
Students who are unhappy with their college experience may want to consider transferring to a school that is a better fit.
While some colleges rarely admit transfer students, many routinely allow transfers and enroll a significant number.
[See: Read 2 Transfer Student Essays That Worked.]
Among the 1,131 ranked colleges and universities that provided fall 2020 transfer statistics in an annual U.S. News survey, the average number of new transfer students was 476. The average transfer acceptance rate at these schools was 65%.
Meanwhile, the 10 colleges with the biggest transfer student populations each had more than 4,600 new transfer students. The average size of the transfer student body at these schools was large: 5,965 students. Transfer acceptance rates varied widely, ranging from a low of 30% at Liberty University in Virginia to a high of 100% at the University of Maryland Global Campus, which tops this list as it enrolled more than 9,500 new transfers in fall 2020.
[Read: Transferring Colleges: 10 Frequently Asked Questions.]
Eight of these colleges are public schools, while two — Liberty and California-based National University — are private. Five of these 10 undergraduate programs are at National Universities, schools that are typically research-focused and offer a variety of college majors in addition to granting master’s and doctoral degrees in a wide range of academic disciplines.
The other five schools are Regional Universities, which offer a variety of undergraduate programs and some master’s programs but few doctorates.
California is home to four of these schools, while Florida and Texas each claim two. Maryland and Virginia each have one school on the list.
Below is a list of the 10 colleges that enrolled the largest number of new transfer students in fall 2020. Unranked schools, which did not meet certain criteria to be ranked — such as the requirement that they enroll at least some full-time, first-year students — were not considered for this report.
| School (state) | New transfer students enrolled | New transfer acceptance rate | U.S. News rank and category |
| University of Maryland Global Campus | 9,513 | 100% | 131-171, Regional Universities (North) |
| California State University–Northridge | 6,727 | 67% | 39(tie), Regional Universities (West) |
| Florida International University | 6,517 | 76% | 162 (tie), National Universities |
| University of Central Florida | 6,478 | 64% | 148 (tie), National Universities |
| Liberty University (VA) | 5,420 | 30% | 299-391, National Universities |
| National University (CA) | 5,223 | 97% | 94-122, Regional Universities (West) |
| University of Texas at Arlington | 5,201 | 88% | 288 (tie), National Universities |
| California State University–Long Beach | 5,093 | 39% | 12 (tie), Regional Universities (West) |
| California State University–Fullerton | 4,867 | 54% | 19, Regional Universities (West) |
| University of Houston | 4,614 | 87% | 179 (tie), National Universities |
Don’t see your school in the top 10? Access the U.S. News College Compass to find transfer statistics, complete rankings and much more. Sign up for the U.S. News Extra Help: College Admissions free email newsletter to receive expert advice twice a month.
U.S. News surveyed more than 1,850 colleges and universities for our 2021 survey of undergraduate programs. Schools self-reported myriad data regarding their academic programs and the makeup of their student body, among other areas, making U.S. News’ data the most accurate and detailed collection of college facts and figures of its kind. While U.S. News uses much of this survey data to rank schools for our annual Best Colleges rankings, the data can also be useful when examined on a smaller scale. U.S. News will now produce lists of data, separate from the overall rankings, meant to provide students and parents a means to find which schools excel, or have room to grow, in specific areas that are important to them. While the data comes from the schools themselves, these lists are not related to, and have no influence over, U.S. News’ rankings of Best Colleges, Best Graduate Schools or Best Online Programs. The transfer data above is correct as of Jan. 25, 2022.
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10 Colleges That Enroll the Most Transfer Students originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 01/25/22: This article has been updated with new information based on the 2022 Best Colleges rankings.
