Part of KCTCS's core mission is providing general education requirements at an affordable price to students wishing to start at a community or technical college and transfer to a four-year program. This indicator measures the percentage of first-time, full-time credential-seeking students entering KCTCS in the fall semester who earn an AA or AS degree and transfer to any in-state, four-year public or private institution within the next academic year. While increasing, the transfer rate is not on pace to meet the 2023-24 target of 65%.

Persistence rate is a statewide indicator that examines the percentage of first-time, credential-seeking students enrolled in a public or independent postsecondary institution in the summer or fall who are still enrolled the following fall at any in-state postsecondary institution, or, in the case of KCTCS students, have completed a credential. The persistence rate provides a more complete understanding of whether students are still enrolled in postsecondary education than the retention rate, which only examines whether students are still enrolled at their native institution. Kentucky exceeded the 2023-24 statewide target of 75% a year ahead of schedule.

Source: Kentucky Postsecondary Education Data System (KPEDS). Underrepresented minoritized students (URM) include Black, American Indian or Alaskan Native, Hispanic or Latinx, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, and two or more races. Low-income students are Pell grant recipients during their year of entry.