The Effects of Minimum College Transfer Admissions Requirements within the University System of Georgia
Abstract
The University System of Georgia sets minimum transfer admissions requirements for its institutions that differ with the institution’s classification as a research university, comprehensive university, state university, or state college. For the three types of universities, the requirements consist of minimum grade-point-average (GPA) thresholds that apply for students with at least 30 transferrable credits. This report studies how the minimum GPA requirements affect student transfers within the system. We find that, in many cases, these GPA requirements do influence transfer patterns. These effects are most apparent for the minimum GPA (3.2) required to transfer to the University of Georgia. Students with a GPA just above the 3.2 minimum at 30 credits are three times as likely to transfer to the University of Georgia within one year compared to students with a GPA just below 3.2. The minimum transfer GPA requirements, however, have a more distinct effect on the timing of when students transfer as opposed to whether students ever transfer to a particular institution. The report concludes with a discussion of the policy implications of these findings.