About Cal Poly Transfers
Cal Poly's transfer student population is incredibly diverse. We hope this page will help you learn more about our transfer population. To learn more about the transfer experience and hear about individual transfer students journey's before and during Cal Poly - check out our Transfer Student Spotlights.
Scroll through to learn more or go directly to each section:
Cal Poly Fact Book | Research & Assessment | Graduation Initiative 2025
1,052 New Transfer Students in 2020: Who are they?
Download the full fact sheet prepared by the Transfer Center to provide more visibility of the status and demographics of our transfer student population on campus.
Learn more about the overall Cal Poly transfer population
Explore Cal Poly's most recent* Institutional Research Fact Books for information on:
- Enrollment data for new transfers
- Persistence and graduation rate trends
- Explore college specific profiles
Admissions Profile for Applicant Yields and New Enrollments is broken down for first-time first years (FTFY) and new transfers (NTR)
*Fact Books are updated annually and the link provided will reflect the most recent data. Check back each year to see changes and trends.
Transfer Inclusivity Training Resources & Information
What does the word "transfer" mean?
Transferring looks different for each student and it's important to be be inclusive of each experience. This is a brief visual description of different types of transfers.
There is a plethora of research that has been conducted on the transfer experience at institutions across the nation, as well as here at Cal Poly. Such research has found that barriers, including institutional policies, personal factors, and non-inclusive environments, significantly impact transfer students' success, ultimately affecting university retention and graduation rates. Check out the information below for more details!
In addition to these articles and research posters, we encourage folx to read through The Transfer Playbook: Essential Practices for Two- and Four-Year Colleges (2016) for a more detailed analysis on transfer practices across the nation, and how to implement these tools to create more inclusive and receptive transfer environments.
Cal Poly Research & Assessment
Other Research & Assessment
- Helping Administrative and Academic Faculty Understand the Importance of their Role as Transfer Agents (2021)
- How Different Student Groups Experience the Transfer Journey (2021)
- Navigating the Student Transition (2021)
- "Get Me from Point A to Point B" Student Perspectives on Barriers (2018)
- The Multiple Dimensions of Transfer (2017)
- Understanding the Racial Transfer Gap (2014)
- Exploring the Role of Sense of Community in the Undergraduate Transfer Student Experience (2013)
- Fostering a Transfer Student Receptive Ecosystem (2013)
- Dimensions of the Transfer Choice Gap (2009)
Explore the CSU Dashboard for the CSU GI 2025 Initiative
The CSU is committed to utilizing evidenced-based decision making in support of our students’ success. The tools below are meant to engage our partners, foster cultures of inquiry, and help all stakeholders in this enterprise identify and pursue those changes with the greatest potential to benefit our students.
- For Faculty, Staff, and Administrators, access detailed data analyses, visuals and predictive analytics with the CSU Student Success Dashboard.
We encourage you to explore the equity gaps dashboard and the graduation initiative dashboard.
- For the General Public, see information on enrollments, graduation rates and achievement gaps on CSU by the Numbers.
