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Community-college transfer rates in Pennsylvania

Community colleges in Pennsylvania 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. Community College of Beaver CountyMonaca, PA28%
  2. Butler County Community CollegeButler, PA25%
  3. Harrisburg Area Community CollegeHarrisburg, PA23%
  4. Bucks County Community CollegeNewtown, PA22%
  5. Northampton County Area Community CollegeBethlehem, PA20%
  6. University of Pittsburgh-TitusvilleTitusville, PA20%
  7. Montgomery County Community CollegeBlue Bell, PA19%
  8. Lehigh Carbon Community CollegeSchnecksville, PA19%
  9. Westmoreland County Community CollegeYoungwood, PA18%
  10. Community College of Allegheny CountyPittsburgh, PA17%
  11. Pennsylvania Highlands Community CollegeJohnstown, PA17%
  12. Luzerne County Community CollegeNanticoke, PA17%
  13. Johnson CollegeScranton, PA14%
  14. Reading Area Community CollegeReading, PA13%
  15. Community College of PhiladelphiaPhiladelphia, PA12%
  16. Delaware County Community CollegeMedia, PA11%
  17. Thaddeus Stevens College of TechnologyLancaster, PA0%

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 Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania, 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.