This report analyzes "vertical transfer," (or student transfer from two-year to four-year institutions, patterns in the United States. The paper explains the importance of this transition and highlights the strategies that are being employed to facilitate the transition, in addition to describing how both two- and four-year institutions can benefit from attending to the transfer issue. The report states that more than 50% of all first-year college students attend two-year institutions. In addition, student enrollment at two-year institutions is increasing at a faster rate than at four-year institutions. However, students who begin college at two-year institutions earn 15% fewer bachelor's degrees than do students who begin at four-year institutions. Nationally, since the 1970s, the number of students transferring from two- to four-year colleges has decreased relative to the total community college enrollment, despite the fact that 57% of community college students earn at least 60 semester hours of credit. The transfer rate of students in vocational-technical programs has been found to equal or exceed that of students who are in general education (transfer track) programs. This calls into question the validity of drawing distinctions between students on transfer and nontransfer tracks. (Contains 69 references.) (NB)