A record 825 transfer students enrolled in Virginia Tech this fall, and more than half of them came from in-state community colleges.

Tech officials said the number of transfer applicants has held steady since 2002, but the quality of applicant has improved in recent years.

The previous high in transfers, 755, came in 2005. In 2002, 619 transfers enrolled.

There is a state-mandated push in higher education in Virginia to make it easier for students to transfer from community colleges to four-year schools.

The latter are now required to set up "articulation agreements" guaranteeing admission to students who finish two-year degrees with strong grade point averages.

Tech's agriculture and life sciences program already has transfer agreements with all Virginia community colleges. Tech's engineering program has an agreement with those community colleges -- including Virginia Western Community College in Roanoke and New River Community College in Dublin -- that offer associates degrees in engineering.

Tech expects to have articulation agreements in place for all its programs in the near future.

Starting at a community college and transferring into four-year school saves money on tuition and appears to be increasingly popular.

"In the last five years, the number of our students who have transferred on to a four-year school has increased 60 percent," said Peggy Taylor, director of student services at NRCC.

Still, the number of students transferring to Tech is a small fraction of the number that enrolls there initially. This fall, more than 5,000 freshmen started their college careers in Blacksburg.