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5 Ways Your Business School Can Help Transfer Students Succeed

Transfer students make up a substantive number鈥攁round 38%鈥攐f all students currently pursuing a college degree. According to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center鈥檚 most recent , more than one million first-time freshmen in 2011 transferred to a different institution within six years. like these about transfer student populations, many colleges and universities are paying closer attention to this long-overlooked group of prospects. They are also admitting more transfer students than ever before; accepted a record number of transfer students for the 2019鈥�2020 academic year. Likewise, transfer students make up nearly 10%听of the student population at the Leeds School of Business. Currently, 422听of the school鈥檚 3,800+听undergraduate population are transfer students.

However, the transfer process often poses challenges for students, from loss of credits to additional years added to degree completion, which makes a smooth transition to a new institution imperative to their success. So how can four-year colleges and universities ensure that this population thrives at their schools? Here are a few tips to help ease this process for both students and their home institutions:

Tip #1: Organize transfer-specific open houses and orientations听
One way that Leeds has helped transfer students succeed is by offering an orientation program focused solely on them. This gives individuals who are in the same situation the opportunity to meet, learn the layout of the building and the location of their advisor鈥檚 office, and meet faculty members and current students of the program.

Lance Duffin, an advisor for transfer students at Leeds, says that the biggest factor that helps their orientation program ensure success is by 鈥渃reating a cohort of students. They get to know each other, they learn names, build study groups and begin to network.鈥� Duffin says these types of early connections are invaluable to the success of the transfer students with whom he works. 听
Penn encourages a strong transfer community on campus starting with personal attention given in the admissions process. Historically, the school has held open house events tailored to transfer students and has a Transfer Student Organization that runs a mentoring program pairing new transfer students with previous transfers.

Other schools have begun offering transfers the opportunity to register and enroll at events for prospective and newly admitted students. In a听process called , students can meet with an admissions counselor and get their admission decision on the same day. Offering this opportunity for transfer students can help simplify an otherwise complicated transfer process.

Tip #2: Appoint staff that specialize in transfer student recruitment and advisement听
Admissions and recruitment teams should do their homework on this demographic; reasons cited for why these students enrolled in two-year colleges first are very different from the reasons first-years enroll in four-year institutions. According to , a recent survey from the National Research Center for College & University Admissions breaks the transfer students into the following types of decision makers: Cost Saver, the Local Explorer, the Academic Improver and the Late Bloomer. Strategies to recruit these students should speak to these underlying motivations.听

Duffin describes his position as a support to incoming transfer students. 鈥淚鈥檓 here to help students understand their transfer evaluations and to help them be strategic before they get here,鈥� he says. That approach saves students time by not wasting credits they earned at other schools. He further suggests that schools 鈥渞elegate funds and staff to commit time and energy directly to these students.鈥澨�

At the Leeds School of Business, they have advisors devoted solely to transfer students, and students are required to meet one-on-one with their advisor before they can register for classes. According to Duffin, 鈥淔inding ways to bring [transfer] students in for face-to-face time is crucial.鈥澨�

Tip #3: Make information about transfer credits easily accessible
A 2017 report from the (GAO) found that the majority of transfer students lost, on average, 37%听of their credits.听One way to help these students avoid the obstacle of losing significant credits is by making detailed information about your curriculum accessible on your website. Ensure this information is up-to-date and as detailed as possible. Create custom content with logistics and details and make certain听that content paints a realistic picture of what life is like at your school for a transfer student.

The GAO鈥檚 report demonstrates findings similar to many other studies: Both two- and four-year institutions do a poor job鈥攐r fail completely鈥攁t providing clear program maps for students to follow online. With a subpar听user experience without proper guidance, students may take the wrong classes or be missing key credits they need. As the number of high school students who are searching for colleges on mobile platforms also grows, schools need to pay attention to the digital experience they鈥檙e providing all prospective students.

Tip #4: Partner with community colleges
Research shows that articulation agreements鈥攑artnerships鈥攚ith community colleges that explain and align the credits needed for a specific program or degree are one of the biggest factors in transfer student success. With agreements in place, students can save significant money on tuition because they will not be repeating credits or having to 鈥渟tart over鈥� once they arrive at your school. California鈥檚 community college system serves so many students, the state has created a strong articulation system called the with their two state university systems, the California State University and University of California systems.

Some institutions have taken a completely different approach to address and simplify the issue of non-transferrable credits by becoming a member of the . Member schools offer students lower-division general education credits as a block of credits to transfer with, eliminating the need for each course to be individually accepted and potentially rejected. Thus, if you attend a school that is a member of the program and transfer to a school that is also a member of the program, you can avoid the inconvenience, cost and time of the traditional transfer experience.听

Tip #5: Provide scholarships for transfer students
has described the cost of college and the financial aid process as serious barriers for transfer students, many of whom are low-income. A vertical transfer from a two-year school to a four-year school offers underrepresented students a more financially viable option for completing their degrees; although, universities have typically not offered the same scholarships and grants to transfer students as they have to first-time, first-year students.听

Partial scholarships, work-study programs and other financial aid can also make a difference for many students considering a move to your school. By addressing cost concerns at the beginning of their time with your school, you can alleviate many of the major hurdles that prevent transfer students from succeeding in your programs.听

By prioritizing efforts to recruit and admit transfers as well as support their transition from one school to another, colleges and universities have a lot to gain. In addition to helping a college鈥檚 yield, transfer students bring schools additional revenue. They also provide an additional opportunity to diversify the student population with students who have a wide breadth of academic and life experience to share with their peers. The key is communicating transfers鈥� importance in your institution鈥檚 strategic planning and ensuring the resources necessary to support their success are provided for, which includes considering their wellness, residential living (if applicable), extracurricular activities and other aspects that contribute to a positive college experience.