10 Colleges With Most Transfer Students

Considering transferring to a different college? You may be looking for a change of scenery or a more challenging workload, or perhaps you started out at a community college to save money. 

Whatever the reason, you're not alone. About 566,400 students at schools surveyed by U.S. News transferred to another institution in 2009. As students begin to consider whether or not to transfer for fall 2011, it's important to remember that resources for transfer students vary by institution, as do the sizes of transfer student populations. 

[Follow these 10 steps to pick the right college for you.]

U.S. News surveys more than 1,700 colleges annually to glean, among many data points, what sort of transfer policies, requirements, and enrollment figures a school has. Based on school-reported data, Arizona State University enrolled 5,388 transfer students in 2009—the largest population among 1,286 schools that reported transfer data. On average, schools enrolled 446 students that fall, excluding schools designated by U.S. News as Unranked, which were not considered for this list. 

Schools in Texas and Florida were popular destinations for migrating students in 2009, as were several California institutions. Among the top 10 destinations for transfer students are three schools in the California State University system—Fullerton, Sacramento, and Northridge—which each drew more than 3,700 transfers in 2009. 

"When we admit students, that's who have first priority—transferring community college students," says Claudia Keith, spokesperson for the California State University system. The system has 23 different campuses with an average student body population of about 60 percent transfer students, Keith says. 

[Find out 8 things transfer students need to know.] 

Still, transfer students are not always a shoo-in at schools in the Golden State's system. With an acceptance rate of 45.7 percent, California State University—Fullerton admits the lowest percent of transfer applicants among schools on this list. Of the 10 schools with largest transfer enrollments, the University of Texas—Arlington accepts the highest percent of transfer hopefuls—91.9 percent in 2009. This list's average acceptance rate, 69.9 percent, roughly corresponds with the national transfer acceptance rate of 61.9 percent, according to U.S. News data. 

These 10 schools enrolled the most transfer students in 2009, according to school data reported to U.S. News: 

For complete transfer-student information, including deadlines, requirements, and enrollment statistics for every school, access the U.S. News College Compass.

U.S. News surveyed more than 1,700 colleges and universities for our 2010 survey of undergraduate programs. Schools self-reported a myriad of data regarding their academic programs and the makeup of their student body, among other areas, making U.S. News's 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's rankings of Best Colleges or Best Graduate Schools.