A study was conducted by the University of California (UC) to investigate trends in community college transfer rates between 1965 and 1987; institutional origins, characteristics, and first-year performance of transfer students; and student persistence and graduation rates. Study findings included the following: (1) between 1965 and the peak year of 1973 there was a 17% increase in transfer students, followed by a decline of 42% between 1973 and 1981, an increase of 11% between 1981 and 1983, and decrease of 8% between 1983 and 1986, and an increase of 12% between 1986 and 1987; (2) of the 106 community colleges in California, only 4 campuses sent 200 or more transfers to the UC; (3) of the 4,822 community college students who transferred to the UC with full records in 1985, 0.4% were American Indian, 1.9% were Black, 5.1% were Chicano, 3.2% were Latino, 1.2% were Pilipino, 14.6% were Asian, and 68.7% were White; (4) both male and female transfer students who entered the UC with upper-division standing preferred majors in the social and biological sciences; (5) fall 1985 regularly admitted transfers achieved a first-year grade point average of 2.76; and (6) third-year persistence and graduation rates for sophomore and junior transfers entering UC between fall 1982 and fall 1985 compared favorably with native UC students. (EJV)