Many moons ago when I was in undergrad, I decided to transfer from the small liberal arts college I was attending in Colorado to a large public university two hours north. My reasons were varied. I’d graduated from a smaller high school and a part of me just wanted to attend a big school where I could be more anonymous as well as reinvent myself. I took a year off to work and live abroad then made the move to a new campus.
Having successfully passed my freshman and sophomore years at my previous college, I gave little thought to the adjustment I would have to make to my new school. Evidently, I was not the only one who had made the assumption that I would just “figure it out” on my own. Transfers, like me, attended a 1-day orientation along with first-years, but us transfers were on our own from there on out.
What I experienced when I got to my new school made me wish, now in retrospect, that somebody had foreseen that the new school was new to me even though I was not new to higher learning. I was able to navigate many elements of college life successfully but didn’t have access to campus-specific support of special programming available to first years. Student support services such as first year mentoring was available only to freshmen and international students. I wasn’t eligible for the amazing living learning communities. They didn’t exist for transfer students.
Today, 20 years later, as a higher education professional, I have come to learn that support services for transfer students are still a rarity across U.S colleges and universities. And why do we need such services in 2021 you may wonder?
Here are 5 reasons why you need special support services for your transfer students.
1. There is a business case for it. When the pandemic hit last year and all higher education migrated online, many students found themselves making the economically rational decision to move to cheaper colleges and universities. Absent all the perks that came with the in-person experiences of a more expensive institution, many students quickly realized that online is online. They could get the same education at a fraction of the cost by registering at a cheaper institution! Consequently, transfer student numbers across all campuses sky-rocketed. Then, as in-person education increased this past fall—and continues to increase as vaccination rates go up—students are transferring to the campus they originally attended or wanted to attend pre-pandemic. It therefore makes good business sense to put your money where the demand is headed.
2. Transfer students have unique needs. Don’t assume that a transfer student’s “new” is the same as a freshman’s “new”. Transfer students may know how to register for classes at a college and even sit exams and pass them, but they may not know how to do it at your specific college or institution.
3. Transfer students can’t always figure it out on their own. The fact that they acclimatized to another institution does not mean they are predisposed to acclimatize to yours. In fact, transfer students may even be afraid to ask because they are expected to know how to figure things out on their own.
4. Transfer students need support from other transfer students. Transfer students identify with neither freshmen (who are “new” to higher learning) nor their classmates (who have been at the institution for a year or two longer than them). This can create problems around identity and an overall sense of belonging and socialization in the new environment.
5. Retention. Happy transfer students are likely to graduate from your institution with strong loyalty toward it. Institutional loyalty goes a long way towards attracting future students and helping those succeed at your institution. As alumni, transfer students can for example, play a pivotal role in getting you future transfer students and making financial contributions to the institution. This of course, is in addition to them moving on to have successful careers and make meaningful societal contributions as graduates.
It is for these reasons that it really does pay to invest in support services for your transfer students. Failure to do so not only fails them, it also robs you of potential financial gains! Finding creative and effective ways to enhance your support services for transfer students doesn’t have to be daunting.
Eduology supports higher education professionals like you by offering them training webinars based on best practices in the industry. Their webinars are varied and actionable, mixing research, theory, and practice. The webinars are tailormade to talk to contemporary challenges faced by academic advisors, career counsellors, faculty, and deans. Click here to visit Eduology’s website for their list of upcoming and past training webinars.