How a Tool Called T-Rex Can Help Students Transfer Smarter

"Improving transfer outcomes has become a central focus for systems and institutions committed to expanding access to bachelor's degrees-particularly for community college students, who are disproportionately from historically underserved populations. At the City University of New York, a digital platform called Transfer Explorer -known more commonly as T-Rex-is helping address one of the most persistent barriers to student success: the uncertainty of how credits transfer."

"It also indicates whether that course will fulfill a student's major, minor or general education requirements-or whether it will transfer only as elective credit. That distinction matters. Although all CUNY courses transfer as at least elective credit due to systemwide policy, elective credit alone does not guarantee timely progress toward a degree-students also need to satisfy their major and any minor requirements."

T-Rex provides clear, accurate, real-time information on how courses transfer across CUNY's 20 undergraduate colleges. The platform indicates whether a course will fulfill a student's major, minor, or general-education requirements, or whether it will transfer only as elective credit. Elective credit alone does not guarantee timely progress toward a degree because students also need to satisfy major and minor requirements. By improving transfer credit transparency and reducing information gaps, T-Rex helps students make smarter course-taking decisions during the transition from community college to four-year institutions. Students who logged in to T-Rex were found to transfer or enroll in more nonelective courses. Community colleges enroll about 40 percent of undergraduates; roughly 80 percent intend to transfer while only about 16 percent complete a bachelor's within six years.

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