The City University of New York has announced a large increase in the number of transfer students enrolling at the system’s 11 senior colleges. In the 2001-2002 academic year, there were 15,423 students who transferred into one of the 11 senior colleges. In the 2011-2012 academic year, the number of transfer students increased to 24,056. About 62 percent of all transfer students to a CUNY senior college came from students who had completed study at a CUNY two-year college.
CUNY reports that the increased number of transfer students has added to the diversity of the student bodies at the system’s 11 senior colleges. The number of Black transfer students increased from 4,473 in 2001-02 to 5,879 in 2011-12. That is an increase of 24.4 percent. CUNY states that the transfer rate coupled with higher retention rates for first-year Black students in bachelor’s degree programs has increased the overall percentage of Black student enrollments in the system.
Blacks have also increased their graduation rates at CUNY colleges. Between 2001 and 2011, the Black student graduation rate increased by 14.4 percentage points. The number of Black students earning bachelor’s degree rose 16.3 percent, from 4,055 to 4,714.
