This essay provides a historical review of articulation and transfer in the United States, and suggests trends for the future. First, the terms articulation and transfer are defined as the totality of services for students transferring throughout higher education and the formulas developed to exchange credits, courses, and curricula, respectively. Next, a historical review of developments in articulation is presented, focusing on the following five time periods: (1) the early decades from the turn of the century to the 1940s, reviewing the first junior colleges' relationship to senior institutions and high schools; (2) the 1950s and 1960s, highlighting the formation of national projects to improve articulation and increasing attention by state governments to transfer; (3) the 1970s, describing key works on trends and policies published in the decade; (4) the 1980s, reviewing issues related to access for disadvantaged populations, remediation, vocational-technical education, proprietary schools, and computerized information systems; and (5) the beginning of the 1990s, reviewing efforts to define a standard model for determining transfer rates. Finally, a summary is provided of the major changes evident in the historical analysis and trends for the future. Contains 105 references. (TGI)