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Community-college transfer rates in North Carolina

Community colleges in North Carolina ranked by reported transfer rate — the share of full-time first-time entrants who continued at another institution within 150% of program length. For students using community college as a stepping stone toward a bachelor's degree, this is the single most predictive comparison metric.

  1. Catawba Valley Community CollegeHickory, NC33%
  2. College of the AlbemarleElizabeth City, NC31%
  3. Southeastern Community CollegeWhiteville, NC26%
  4. Western Piedmont Community CollegeMorganton, NC23%
  5. Bladen Community CollegeDublin, NC23%
  6. Wilson Community CollegeWilson, NC21%
  7. Sandhills Community CollegePinehurst, NC21%
  8. Roanoke-Chowan Community CollegeAhoskie, NC21%
  9. Coastal Carolina Community CollegeJacksonville, NC18%
  10. Caldwell Community College and Technical InstituteHudson, NC17%
  11. Pitt Community CollegeWinterville, NC17%
  12. Central Carolina Community CollegeSanford, NC16%
  13. Haywood Community CollegeClyde, NC16%
  14. Durham Technical Community CollegeDurham, NC15%
  15. Robeson Community CollegeLumberton, NC15%
  16. South Piedmont Community CollegePolkton, NC15%
  17. Guilford Technical Community CollegeJamestown, NC14%
  18. Brunswick Community CollegeBolivia, NC14%
  19. Vance-Granville Community CollegeHenderson, NC13%
  20. Craven Community CollegeNew Bern, NC13%
  21. Louisburg CollegeLouisburg, NC13%
  22. McDowell Technical Community CollegeMarion, NC13%
  23. Rockingham Community CollegeWentworth, NC13%
  24. Forsyth Technical Community CollegeWinston-Salem, NC12%
  25. Mayland Community CollegeSpruce Pine, NC12%
  26. Sampson Community CollegeClinton, NC10%
  27. Piedmont Community CollegeRoxboro, NC10%
  28. Tri-County Community CollegeMurphy, NC10%
  29. Cape Fear Community CollegeWilmington, NC2%
  30. NASCAR Technical InstituteMooresville, NC0%

How transfer rates are calculated

The transfer rate reported by the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard is the share of full-time first-time degree-seeking students at a two-year institution who transferred to another postsecondary institution within 150% of the normal time to program completion. It does not distinguish between transfers to four-year institutions and transfers to other two-year colleges, and it does not measure whether the receiving institution accepted the credits. Treat the figure as a directional indicator of how often students leave the community college for further postsecondary work, not as a precise measure of bachelor's-degree pipeline strength.

For a complete transfer assessment of any North Carolina community college on this list, ask three follow-up questions of the institution directly: (1) Which four-year institutions does the college maintain articulation agreements with, and on what fields of study? (2) For students who transferred to a public North Carolina four-year university last year, what share of community-college credits were accepted on a course-for-course basis? (3) Does the institution participate in any statewide North Carolina transfer guarantee or reverse-transfer program? Strong answers to all three questions matter more than the headline transfer rate.

If you are intending to transfer outside North Carolina, you should also confirm that the receiving institution will accept the community college's regional accreditation. The accreditor for each college is listed on its full profile.