Topic: Credit mobility
Blog Post
November 12, 2026
Transfer Explorer Comes to Ohio
Students Will Soon See How Their Credits Count Before They Enroll
A nonprofit tool will give more than 400,000 Ohio students an authoritative, public view of how their prior learning will apply to a degree, so they can plan their educational journey and save time and money. More than one third of first-time college students transfer at least once during their academic journey. In fact, today’s modern learner accrues credits from multiple institutions—45.6 percent of associate’s degree holders and 67 percent of bachelor’s degree holders have transcripts from multiple…
Research Report
October 29, 2026
Scaling Transfer Transparency
Institutional Experiences with Transfer Explorer
Transfer students often struggle to understand whether prior coursework will transfer to a new institution and how those credits will apply toward a specific degree. ITHAKA developed the national version of Transfer Explorer to make this information more transparent. Building on CUNY Transfer Explorer, the publicly accessible platform draws directly from participating institutions’ course equivalencies and program requirements to show students, advisors, and staff how specific courses and other validated learning may transfer and apply toward a degree. This report…
Past Event
October 13, 2026
Holistic Credit Mobility: The Framework, the Cohort Experience, and Practical Tools
Ithaka S+R developed the holistic credit mobility framework to think about transfer more broadly than its traditional definition, recognizing validated learning regardless of source so that learners can chart the shortest route from where they are to the credential they seek. Last year, York Technical College and Winthrop University participated in the Holistic Credit Mobility Acceleration Cohort, working together to strengthen their transfer partnership through meta-major pathways and other joint credit mobility efforts. Lessons from their work and from the…
Past Event
October 6, 2026
Developing Principles of Credit Mobility
This session at the SHEEO Noncredit Engagement Convening will invite agency leaders to reflect on what it would take to approach credit mobility more holistically, prioritizing student success. As states are working towards legitimizing noncredit administration and data governance practices, the moment is here for state and institutional leaders to consider their full portfolio relating to credit mobility—transfer and articulation, military occupation articulation, credit for prior learning, stacking noncredit programs, etc.—and consider ways to design systems and practices that can…
Past Event
September 17, 2026
Transfer Explorer Learning Network
Join the next installment of the Transfer Explorer Learning Network to learn how institutions are using Transfer Explorer to improve the transfer process, streamline campus workflows, and make information more accessible. On September 17 at 3:00 PM ET, guest speakers from participating institutions will share their experiences implementing and launching Transfer Explorer, including lessons learned and plans for incorporating the tool into their work. Ithaka S+R will also present the latest usage data and other relevant analytics. Attendees will…
Past Event
June 10, 2026
Collaborative Strategies to Support Adult Learner Re-enrollment and Affordability
More than 36 million adults in the United States have some college experience but no credential. Many adult learners who consider returning encounter persistent affordability challenges that slow or prevent re-enrollment and completion.In a plenary session at the MHEC College Affordability Summit: FAFSA & Beyond, Elizabeth Looker, Joanna Dressel, and Toni-Anne Richards will explore the complex financial and structural barriers that shape adult learners’ educational journeys. Grounded in national and regional data, we will examine trends in adult…
Past Event
June 10, 2026
Improving Transfer Outcomes
Tools & Strategies that Support Student Success
Transfer pathways are a common journey for many students, but too often, students lose credits, time, money, and momentum along the way. The good news? There are emerging tools and advising practices that can help change that. Join this webinar on June 10 at 2:00-3:00pm ET to explore how practitioners can better support transfer students through stronger advising and smarter use of tools. Presenters from Ithaka S+R will introduce their Holistic Credit Mobility Framework, which helps institutions and partners…
Past Event
August 3, 2026
Different Contexts, Same Challenge
Building Momentum for Holistic Credit Mobility
This session at the SHEEO Higher Education Policy Conference will draw on the work of the national Holistic Credit Mobility Acceleration Cohort, a year-long community of practice developed in partnership between Ithaka S+R and Complete College America with support from Ascendium Education Group, to examine what it actually takes to move from fragmentation to momentum at scale. Grounded in the Holistic Credit Mobility Framework first published by Ithaka S+R in 2022 and advanced through a 2025 case study report…
Past Event
June 10, 2026
Holistic Transfer and Credit Mobility in Action
At the University System of Georgia’s Adult Learner and Military Connected Convening on June 10, 2026, Ithaka S+R’s Pooja Patel will give a presentation framing the national landscape surrounding holistic credit mobility and providing context for the work that Ithaka S+R has supported across states and systems.
Past Event
May 21, 2026
Transfer Explorer Learning Network
Reverse Transfer and Why It Matters
Join us on May 21, 2026 at 3pm ET for the next Transfer Explorer Learning Network session. This quarter, we are talking about reverse transfer and how it can be an important pathway to degree completion for students. The session will feature an overview of reverse transfer, why it matters, and the challenges that students and institutions may encounter. Then, we will hear from guest speaker Dr. David Yancey of Coastal Carolina University, who will share insights from the real…
Blog Post
April 14, 2026
Making Credit Count
How Transparency Can Improve Transfer Outcomes
A new report from Ithaka S+R, Academic Momentum and Credit Mobility: Examining the Role of CUNY’s Transfer Explorer, explores how improving transparency around credit transfer can shape student outcomes. Drawing on administrative data from nearly 30,000 students across the CUNY system, the study offers new evidence on what it takes to support meaningful academic progress after transfer.
Research Report
April 14, 2026
Academic Momentum and Credit Mobility
Examining the Role of CUNY’s Transfer Explorer
This report examines whether using T-REX is associated with improved early transfer outcomes for CUNY students who move from a CUNY community college to a CUNY bachelor’s-degree-granting college. Using administrative data for first-time vertical transfer students initiating transfer between Fall 2020 and Spring 2025, we compare outcomes for students who logged in to T-REX before or during the year they transferred and students who did not. We focus on two outcomes measured at the bachelor’s-degree-granting college: (1) the total number…
Blog Post
April 8, 2026
From Cohort to Catalyst
At a Final Convening, the Holistic Credit Mobility Acceleration Cohort Celebrates Innovation, Accomplishments, and Connection
Earlier this year, Ithaka S+R hosted 40 members of the holistic credit mobility acceleration cohort in New York City for a final convening. Throughout 2025, cohort members worked with Ithaka S+R and Complete College America to identify and implement strategies to enhance credit mobility, creating a seamless path for students to transfer earned credits and ultimately achieve their educational goals.
Blog Post
December 11, 2025
Transfer Explorer Is Growing
Credit Mobility Website Is Poised to Add New States and Functionality in 2026
Today’s students are more mobile than ever before. A striking 45 percent of Associate degree holders and 67 percent of Bachelor degree holders have transcripts with learning from multiple institutions. Transfer student enrollment has increased by 8 percent since 2020, largely fueled by students who previously earned college credits and are now returning to higher education after a break to complete their degrees or credentials. To help ensure all those credits count toward a credential, we launched…
Past Event
November 14, 2025
Decoding the Path to a College Degree with Transparent and Actionable Credit Mobility Data
Council for Adult and Experiential Learning Conference
Far too often students returning to higher education or moving between higher education institutions encounter significant barriers in transferring course credits and receiving recognition for prior learning. Part of this struggle is the siloed and opaque nature of information about how prior learning will be accepted and applied toward a credential upon transfer to a new institution. This session at the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) Conference will share insights on Transfer Explorer and CUNY Transfer Explorer, with…
Past Event
July 11, 2025
Holistic Solutions for Mobile Postsecondary Students
At the Education Commission of the States National Forum on Education Policy, Ithaka S+R’s Martin Kurzweil will participate in a moderated panel discussion on holistic solutions for mobile postsecondary students. The panel will use a framework for holistic credit mobility to guide a conversation with speakers from Ohio and South Carolina, both of which are part of a new community of practice on credit mobility and/or were featured in a recent research case study highlighting promising policy, practices, and…
Past Event
May 20, 2025
Providing Credit Transfer Visibility to Improve Credit Mobility
In a Tuesday Session with DXtera Institute, Emily Tichenor and Chris Buonocore from Ithaka S+R/JSTOR Labs will discuss the Transfer Explorer project. This spring ITHAKA launched a new, public, non-profit, national credit mobility website to help address the many challenges college students face when they move between institutions or attempt to transfer credits they earned in high school or elsewhere. Currently in its beta release, Transfer Explorer will expand in 2025 to contain data from a growing number of…
Blog Post
March 20, 2025
Highlights from SXSW EDU 2025
The Growing Role of AI in Education, Learning Styles, the Value of Higher Education, and Student Belonging Take Center Stage
Earlier this month, I attended the SXSW EDU Conference in Austin, Texas, where I led a panel session about Ithaka S+R’s credit mobility work. The conference featured wide-ranging sessions covering key topics in the K-12, higher education, and education technology sectors. I wanted to highlight a number of sessions that stood out to me, focused on the growing role of artificial intelligence in education, leadership in challenging times, student mental health and learning styles, and building cultures that…
Past Event
April 8, 2025
Modernizing Credit Mobility in Support of Postsecondary Access & Achievement
As students navigate increasingly complex educational journeys, retaining the value of their credits and credentials remains a persistent challenge. Lost credits and inefficient pathways can derail student progress and drive up costs. However, new technologies, data-driven solutions, and AI-powered tools are changing the way institutions approach evaluating and recognizing credit for prior learning, and the information and resources that students can use to plan their route to a degree through multiple institutions. At the ASU-GSV Summit on April 8…
Past Event
March 15, 2025
Using Lasso Regression to Examine Vertical Transfer Paths and Predict Student Success
At the Association for Education Finance and Policy (AEFP) 50th Anniversary Conference, Martin Kurzweil, Lexa Logue, David Wutchiett, and Colin Chellman will give a presentation of research using lasso regression to address multicollinearity and interaction effects in estimating graduation and academic outcomes for students transferring from community colleges to bachelor’s colleges. The session will be held on March 15 at 1:45-3:15pm ET.