Transfer students comprise approximately half of incoming students at CUNY’s four-year colleges. These students have unique needs and require different services than entering freshmen. Research shows that students

who began in community college are less likely to obtain a bachelor’s degree than comparable students who started in four-year colleges.

• 80% of community college students want a Bachelor's Degree

• 25% transfer within 5 years

• 17% complete a BA within 6 years of transferring

Data reviewed internally at CUNY in 2011 found that transfer students were not accumulating credits at the same rate as non-transfer students, due to a combination of factors including credits not transferring between schools, changing majors, and needing to take additional courses to meet unfilled requirements. While transfer students face substantial roadblocks to their completion, research from CUNY found that their transfer

students were actually more focused on degree attainment than their non-transfer student peers, underscoring the need to better align transfer policies with students’ commitment. [#DegreesNYC Blueprint]

• Transfer students graduate with Bachelor's Degrees at the same rate and in the same timeframe as non-transfer students

• All credits transfer from community colleges to senior colleges

• Transfer students have the support, tools, and advising they need

• Transfer students feel they belong and can succeed in the senior colleges they transfer to

Local

The City University of New York:

• Create a University leadership position and office for Transfer to coordinate work across CUNY and with other receiving institutions around transfer

• Create a “Transfer Student Advisory Group” to advise and give input to the new office

• Make a commitment to involve students in leadership roles

  1. • Always invite 2 or more students to participate for a variety of experience and for moral support in speaking to power

     • Always involve students affected by the issue at hand- in this case, transfer students

     • Compensate students for their time

• Align the Curriculum - continue to develop Pathways at the University level. Align courses and centralize transfer credit decisions.

• Deepen the alignment of courses, degrees and careers and the communication around this alignment. This has to do with how credits flow AND how students understand their learning outcomes in the context of their career and life aspirations. Students should understand why they need to take each course and what they will get from it.

• Identify where colleges are successful, study and spread practices/systems that work

• Implement/support peer support initiatives

• Communicate, communicate, communicate. Strong communication is needed about what is going on to improve transfer, about options for transfer students, about pathways for high school and community-based advisors.

• Systematize ongoing input from students

• Review campus policies to ensure students don’t encounter inconsistent policies.

• Widely publicize student appeals processes.

• Ensure transfer students are equitably eligible for opportunities. There are lots of opportunities - fellowships, scholarships, special programs, internships, LSAT prep, special advising, etc. - but many are only available to students who start at a 4 year as a freshman.

• Eliminate the application fee and application form to transfer within CUNY. All the information is in our systems already.

• Create a sustainable resource plan to support transfer work. There needs to be funding for collaborative partnership. Faculty need to be paid to align the curriculum. We need to invest in student leadership - student advocates and peer mentors. We need to attract additional sustainable funding to support transfer.

COMING SOON

COMING SOON

COMING SOON