By George Lorenzo
Students who have taken college-level courses, as well as
those who have work-related or military-related experiences and training that
can be converted into college credit toward a bachelor’s degree, are at the
mercy of the transfer rules and regulations of any institution they may plan to
attend. What many of these transfer students do not know is that all
institutions are not created equal when it comes to
credit-transferability. For instance, a
student may have completed a regionally accredited course at a community
college that he/she feels is worthy of transfer into a specific four-year
degree program they wish to enroll in, but they soon discover during the
admission process that the course they completed and paid for does not apply
toward the degree they want to obtain. They might even have to retake a similar
course in order to obtain the credit needed to graduate, resulting in a costly
double-tuition-paid effect. This has been a perennial problem for transfer
students at all levels; many students today continue to experience what we will
refer to in this report as “transfer hassles.” However, with a focused view on
doing some pre-transfer homework, such hassles can be completely evaded.
To avoid transfer hassles, the best advice any transfer student
can take is to be well aware of the course transferability options they will
have before they decide to enroll in any course. That’s not such an easy
proposition as it sounds. Sometimes, for instance, students are ill-advised
even by professional student advisors about the transferability of various
courses. At other times students simply do not yet know what kind of degree or
career pathway they really want to pursue and subsequently take courses that
will not apply to the discipline they ultimately decide on.
To help alleviate such issues and challenges in the world of
transfer, both two-year and four-year institutions have increasingly created
better transfer advisement services for prospective students. In addition, a
growing list of web-based transfer services have popped up in recent years,
giving students the power to learn more about transfer issues and challenges on
their own, independently online over an Internet connection.
Another relatively new development in the world of academic
credit is that some institutions are becoming much more transfer friendly by
awarding transfer credit for professional and military training,
certifications, licenses, and exams, making the pathway toward a degree less
expensive and easier to complete. Additionally, a growing-in-popularity service
called Prior learning assessment (PLA) is another avenue transfer students can
now take in order to lessen the load of credit needed to graduate.
Such positive developments overall does not mean that
transfer issues have been fully resolved. As a recent commentary published in
The Chronicle of Higher Education suggested, “many colleges require a transfer
student to make a commitment to attend – in the form of a nonrefundable deposit
– before they will give out information about transfer credit,” creating a
pay-now and find-out-the-bad-news- later effect known as a “catch-and-release”
policy. [i]
Nonetheless, If you earned college credit and/or have work- or
military-related experiences and training, but no bachelor’s or master’s
degree, your prospects for ultimately earning a degree are more flexible and
easier to obtain today because many colleges and universities are increasingly
becoming more service-oriented toward helping prospective students transfer in the
credit they have already earned toward a degree.
Some Basic Pre-Transfer
Issues You Should Know About
Despite such recent developments, challenges do exist in the world of transfer students. In short, you are always at the mercy of the transfer rules and regulations of any institution you plan to attend. All colleges and universities are not created equal when it comes to transfer. There are some caveats that you need to be aware of before you enter into any kind of transfer agreement.
Despite such recent developments, challenges do exist in the world of transfer students. In short, you are always at the mercy of the transfer rules and regulations of any institution you plan to attend. All colleges and universities are not created equal when it comes to transfer. There are some caveats that you need to be aware of before you enter into any kind of transfer agreement.
For one, it is always wise is to be well aware of the course
transferability options an institution has established before deciding to
enroll in any course or commit to an admissions process. Additionally, knowing
in advance what kind of degree or career pathway you really want to pursue helps
in the transfer applicability of any course you have enrolled in or will enroll
in. Overall, you’ll want to eliminate the possibility of any transfer hassles.
For example, depending on the institution, you might be required to retake a
course you earned credit for at another institution because it is not
transferable, resulting in a costly double-tuition-paid effect. This has been a
perennial problem for transfer students at all levels; many students today
continue to experience what we will refer to in this report as “transfer
hassles.” However, with a focused view on doing some pre-transfer homework, and
utilizing the transfer advisement services that many colleges are adopting and
offering, such hassles can be completely eliminated.
In the “Community College Transfer Guide,” author Don Silver lists the following important pre-transfer issues:
In the “Community College Transfer Guide,” author Don Silver lists the following important pre-transfer issues:
- If you are looking to attend a community college prior to transferring to a four-year college, choose a community college that has strong transfer relationships with four-year institutions. You can find out more by talking with the advisor assigned to you at any community college. Reach out to that advisor and ask a lot of questions.
- Investigate what kind of priority is given to
transfer students at the four-year institution you want to ultimately transfer
to. Some four-year colleges, for instance, have guaranteed articulation
agreements for transfer with a good number of various community colleges.
- If you are currently attending a community college, make a decision as to when you would like to transfer, as a sophomore or junior at the anticipated four-year institution.
- Try to have a clear choice for a major and get a clear understanding of what general education and lower-division and upper-division courses you can transfer in.
- If you are planning to attend an out-of-state institution or a private college, make sure you understand how your coursework and learning and training experiences will be evaluated for transfer as soon as feasibly possible.
- Meet with any college advisor you can on a regular basis, via email, telephone, or face-to-face, as least once each semester or quarter to ensure that you are doing the right thing, as sometimes transfer policies change without notice between semesters or quarters.
- It’s always good to earn a two-year degree in full prior to transferring. At the very least, you’ll have something to fall back on for when you are searching for work or career advancement.
- Have a clear understanding of what is meant by “transfer credits” and any other terms that apply to the process of transferring. [ii]
More Transfer Services
and More Online Tools to Boost Degree Completion Rates
Many institutions today have new departments and websites that are strictly devoted to helping students transfer in credit, which is something that was not the norm only five years ago. Adding to this new sense of importance regarding making the transfer process smoother and less of a financial burden, the Obama administration has stressed its support for the United States returning to its once long-time status of being the nation with the highest percentage of its population holding post-secondary degrees and credentials by 2020. The Department of Education’s “College Completion Toolkit,” for instance, provides information that state-level political leaders can use to help colleges in their state increase degree completion rates.[iii] In a section of the Toolkit, titled “Making It Easier for Students to Transfer Among Colleges,” it is noted that transfer students, prior to earning a bachelor’s degree, comprise two thirds of the U.S. higher education population, with 46% attending two colleges during their undergraduate years and 20% attending three or more colleges. The message in this document strongly suggests that states create “an overarching set of policies to promote smooth transition among institutions of higher education.” [iv]
Many institutions today have new departments and websites that are strictly devoted to helping students transfer in credit, which is something that was not the norm only five years ago. Adding to this new sense of importance regarding making the transfer process smoother and less of a financial burden, the Obama administration has stressed its support for the United States returning to its once long-time status of being the nation with the highest percentage of its population holding post-secondary degrees and credentials by 2020. The Department of Education’s “College Completion Toolkit,” for instance, provides information that state-level political leaders can use to help colleges in their state increase degree completion rates.[iii] In a section of the Toolkit, titled “Making It Easier for Students to Transfer Among Colleges,” it is noted that transfer students, prior to earning a bachelor’s degree, comprise two thirds of the U.S. higher education population, with 46% attending two colleges during their undergraduate years and 20% attending three or more colleges. The message in this document strongly suggests that states create “an overarching set of policies to promote smooth transition among institutions of higher education.” [iv]
Arizona State University (ASU) is a good example of an
institution with such policies. That’s
not surprising given that ASU is the top college in the nation for number of
transfer students, logging in 6,776 transfer students in 2011, with a new
transfer acceptance rate of 87.6 percent. [v]
i Alexander P.
Ott and Bruce S. Cooper. (March 2013). “They’re Transfer Students, Not Cash
Cows,” The Chronicle of Higher Education.
http://chronicle.com/article/Theyre-Transfer-Students-Not/137935/.
[ii] Don Silver. (2009-2001). Community College
Transfer Guide. Adams-Hall Publishing, Los Angeles, California.
[iii] U.S. Department of Education. Governing to
Win. http://www.ed.gov/college-completion/governing-win.
[iv] U.S. Department of Education. (March 2011).
College Completion Toolkit. http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/college_completion_tool_kit.pdf.
[v] Delece Smith Barrow. (July 2013). 10 Colleges
With the Most New Transfer Students Enrolled. US News. http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/the-short-list-college/articles/2013/07/16/10-colleges-with-the-most-new-transfer-students-enrolled.
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