Transfer Explorer: A National Credit Mobility Solution

Our goal:

Over one-third of first-time students transfer at least once during their academic journey, but often they lose earned college credit when entering a new institution. Our colleagues in Ithaka S+R are hard at work trying to open the black box of credit transfer. They worked with the City University of New York to design and build the groundbreaking CUNY Transfer Explorer (T-Rex), which has helped over 150,000 users explore, discover, and use the over 1.6 million credit transfer rules for the CUNY system’s 20 undergraduate colleges.

At ITHAKA Labs we collaborated with Ithaka S+R to to develop a credit mobility website that helps more students chart the quickest path to a degree—saving them time and money. Inspired by CUNY’s T-Rex, Transfer Explorer connects students, institutions, and advisors with up-to-date, accurate information on how credits transfer and count towards degrees, empowering students to make smart transfer choices.

How does it work?

Through automated data feeds, Transfer Explorer stays updated with the latest evaluated course equivalencies, course catalog information, and program requirements from student information systems, degree audit software, and other relevant source systems from member schools. The data integration process from participating college source systems, including SIS and degree audit, uses the open-source CampusAPI services and Enterprise Integration Framework from the nonprofit DXtera Institute. 

What’s next

In 2026, Transfer Explorer shifted from a fully grant-funded pilot to a grant-subsidized, paid service, offered on a nonprofit basis. Ithaka S+R is working with a new cohort of state higher education agencies, systems, and consortia to bring Transfer Explorer to their students, with generous funding from the Gates Foundation.

Over the next two years, we’ll continue to enhance the website, adding capabilities and features including the ability to add credit for prior learning (exams, military, and workforce learning), authenticated user accounts, a tool to compare transfer pathways to find the best fit, a transcript upload feature, and an enhanced program requirements display. 

Our impact

Transfer Explorer at a glance:

• 1M+ transfer rules
• 1,000+ academic programs
• 15 member colleges and universities
• 4 states

“Participating as a pilot institution for the Transfer Explorer has brought meaningful improvements to how we support transfer students…This collaboration is already shaping a more coherent and student-centered transfer ecosystem.”
Dr. Leslie Barrett Brown, associate director for adult learner pathways at Coastal Carolina University

“Transfer Explorer is providing a one stop solution in providing transparency for transfer planning.”
Steve Marcelynas, director, Office of Transfer and Articulation, Connecticut State Colleges and Universities System

Stay connected

If your higher education institution, system, or state is interested in Transfer Explorer, we’d love to hear from you. Contact us to learn more, receive updates, and see how we can bring Transfer Explorer to your students.