"Community colleges and four-year universities can work together to improve the transfer student experience, a data report from the U.S. Department of Education suggests.

The U.S. Department of Education released data about the institutions where transfer students have the highest graduation rates in each state, with New Jersey, New York, Illinois, Maryland and Virginia doing the best. At the other end were South Dakota, Delaware, Indiana, New Mexico and Louisiana.

The Department of Education data highlighted an ongoing problem of poor graduation outcomes among college transfer students.

While attending community college has become increasingly common for students in recent decades, schools have not accommodated their practices to match this demand, said Josh Wyner, a founder and executive director of the College Excellence Program at the Aspen Institute.

Today, about 40% of all undergraduate students attend community colleges, Wyner said, and most of them plan to earn a bachelor’s degree.

'Our current higher education system stacks the deck against community college students who aspire to earn four-year degrees — denying acceptance of their credits, forcing them to retake courses, and ultimately making their educational journeys longer and costlier than they need to be,' Cardona said in the press release,'" reports Virginia Mercury.

Photo: Department of Education data shows an ongoing problem of poor graduation outcomes among students who transfer from community colleges to four-year institutions, and Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona says there needs to be increased support for transfer students. (Getty Images)