Improving Student Transfer from Community Colleges to Four-Year Institutions—The Perspective of Leaders from Baccalaureate-Granting Institutions

Report Summary and Recommendations

Higher education leaders interviewed for this report suggest the following to initiate or improve transfer at four-year colleges and universities. These recommendations are not meant to be exhaustive and not all will be appropriate for every institution. Nevertheless, these strategies may assist other four-year institution leaders who are considering community college transfer students as a new or larger component of their campus community.

Leadership and Commitment

Four-year institutions’ enrollment and education of transfer students should be a part of the campus mission and should be supported at the highest levels of administrative and faculty leadership. Suggested strategies to achieve this include the following:

• Develop a strategic, as opposed to a tactical, enrollment plan, one that is mission driven and sees the recruitment and enrollment of transfer students as a long-term commitment.
• Engage a broad consensus of senior leaders in academic affairs, enrollment management, outreach, student affairs and financial aid in the commitment to serve transfer students.
• Understand the challenges and obligations that follow from a decision to bring transfer students to a campus, which may require an institution to evaluate all aspects of its operations, including recruitment, admission and student and academic affairs.

Outreach and Preparation

Four-year institutions should provide transfer students with the guidance they will need to prepare for and apply to their four-year institution. Suggested strategies include the following:

• Calibrate an outreach message that is purposeful, concise and clear — and that focuses on academic preparation.
• Develop productive and sustainable relationships with community colleges locally; expand as resources and commitment allow.
• Establish a presence on the community college campus that will help guide prospective transfer applicants in selecting courses that will prepare them for the transition to the four-year institution.
• Support community college counselors by keeping them up-to-date on programs and services at the four-year institution.
• Train recruitment staff in ways that will help them serve transfer students effectively, especially since transfer students usually present a more complex academic profile than freshman students.

Admission and Enrollment

Four-year institutions should enroll academically prepared students who are able to pursue their major immediately after transfer. Suggested strategies include the following:

• Create transparent transfer credit policies so that students know how to prepare for transfer while attending the community college.
• Complete a credit evaluation for all transfer students before they enroll at the four-year institution.
• Involve faculty in the admission process so that they are actively engaged — reading applications, assessing student preparation and consulting with admission staff.
• Identify transfer student enrollment targets that are separate from freshman targets.
• Grant community college applicants preference in the admission process over transfer applicants from four-year colleges and universities.

Financial Aid

Four-year institutions should provide sufficient aid to transfer students so that they may engage fully in the campus community. Suggested strategies include the following:

• Use Federal Work-Study Program funds for transfer students since many of these students prefer to work while in college. Holding a work-study job is more likely to keep transfer students close to campus, which helps them connect to the campus community more easily.
• Create partnerships with community colleges that help students attend school full time and to receive full financial aid.
• Fund scholarships specifically for transfer students.
• Help students face their financial aid future by developing information, resources and incentives that span the transfer student’s transition from a community college to a four-year institution.

Student and Academic Affairs

Four-year institutions should create a welcoming environment for transfer students by addressing their unique transitional issues, while working to engage them fully in the intellectual life of the campus. Suggested strategies include the following:

• Dismiss the assumption that transfer students require less attention or service than first-time students because they have already been to college. Similarly, do not assume that just because a transfer student does not want something (e.g., orientation), that he or she does not need it.
• Monitor and assess the transfer student experience as you would the first-year student experience.
• Offer an orientation program for transfer students that addresses their unique needs and concerns.
• Create a campus “home” for transfer students by establishing a campus transfer center that allows students to meet others like themselves, obtain access to sustained advising and prepare for the transition to the larger campus community.
• Offer special transition courses for transfer students.
• Reserve housing for transfer students on or near campus to shorten (or eliminate) their commute, providing them with time to fully engage the campus community.