Michigan definitely has its problems and has difficulty getting transfers for decades. The problem is Michigan rejects a lot of transfer credits or will only count them as electives. This leads to students needing an extra semester or two in order to graduate. The whole process is also dragged out, taking weeks to get word. There is an appeal process, but that too takes weeks and almost always gets denied. Players look elsewhere and seem to have no problem with transferring credits.
Michigan lost out on Terrance Shannon last year similar to what happened with Caleb Love. Shannon instead transferred to Illinois with no problems. He was voted all Big Ten: 1st team coaches, 2nd team media.
Having worked with college transfer credits for almost thirty years, these are the issues:
1. Is the previous college accredited by the Higher Learning Commission or one of the regional accreditation agencies?
2. What classes did the student take and what grades did the student receive?
3. Cumulative transfer GPA can vary from college to college.
4. By school policy do classes with a passing grade transfer (D or higher), or do only C or higher grades transfer?
5. How do the transfer credits fit into the student’s stated major? This can be tricky, as different colleges may have somewhat different requirements for the same major. Many colleges have an open studies major to address this issue.
6. Is an ACT OR SAT entrance exam required to transfer”? This is usually required at the previous college, but not always.