As it does each month, Hamline University recently named its Admissions Student Staff Member of the month for December. The young man was a real presence on campus and an asset to the admissions office, which was why he was recognized by both students and staff to receive the award.

While the honor would have been a great achievement for any student, it was even more significant because he was a transfer student, said Milyon Trulove, director of undergraduate admissions at Hamline. "He's only been here a little over a year and is now one of the strongest contributors to our campus' culture — an avatar of what our community can be."

His story isn't atypical at Minnesota's Private Colleges, where 23 percent of incoming students are comprised of transfer students. These institutions make a special effort to ensure that their transfer student population not only survives, but thrives, both academically and socially.

In addition, with the recent decision by the University of Minnesota's Twin Cities campus to admit fewer transfer students in the next academic year, the welcome mat that Minnesota's Private Colleges extends to transfer students becomes an even more important piece in ensuring degree completion in the state.

At Concordia University, St. Paul, associate director of admission Briana Eicheldinger notes that transfer students are seen as a valuable part of the community. "We've embraced transfer students through our orientations, counseling, the transferring of credits and with general flexibility. It spans across campus and every little bit of it helps transfer students be successful."

The reasons students transfer
Undergraduate students transfer to Minnesota private colleges for several reasons, Eicheldinger said, and those reasons have largely remained the same for some time. At Concordia specifically, students often start at a community college to save money and transfer after completing or nearly completing an associate degree, she said. Other students transfer from four-year institutions to a Minnesota private college when the first school "wasn't a good fit for them, academically or socially," she said.

Sometimes students say they initially looked at Concordia and ended up choosing a different school — and now they want to try the school they feel they should have chosen the first time around, she said. About one-third of the students in Concordia's traditional programs are transfer students.

At the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University, where transfer students make up around 10 percent of the student population, most students transfer from other four-year institutions. The reasons students transfer are sometimes less tangible, like a lack of connection to their campus, said Teri Durbin, senior associate director of admission. They also have more specific reasons, which are often related to their major and include not being able to get into certain classes as a freshman, she said. "They figure that at a smaller school like Saint Ben's or Saint John's, there will be a better possibility of getting the classes they want," and this is typically true, she said.

Trulove said that while the total number of students transferring to Hamline has remained steady at 20 to 25 percent of the student body in recent years, he has seen fewer students transferring from other four-year institutions and slightly more students coming in from two-year community colleges. The change might be a reflection of the economy, he said.

Many students who have come from a community college or public college are nervous at first about the cost of transferring to a private college, Eicheldinger said, especially those who walk by her table at transfer fairs. She said that once the students to stop and talk about their options, they are often surprised at how affordable private institutions can be — and how the financial aid office will work with them: "That's always a fun conversation to have with students."

That was the case with Melissa Trost, who transferred to Hamline after attending Century College almost two and a half years ago; she's a marketing and psychology double major. "I went into the financial aid office and said, 'I need more help. What can we do?'" Trost said. "They were able to find me more scholarships and grants, including a transfer student scholarship. They also told me about the best kind of loans to take out."

The unique needs of transfer students
Though they may only be a year (or less) older than students who matriculate as freshmen, transfer students are a special population with unique needs, said Durbin. "Transfer students are much more focused," she said. "They want to know who to talk to and what their academic plan looks like; their residential needs are different, too. It's less about social needs, which is very different from students who just came from high school."

Eicheldinger agrees. "Transfer students are more likely to say, 'College is great and everything, but how many of my credits will transfer and how long will this take?' because they often already have a life outside of school."

Eicheldinger notes that many institutions have recently started to recognize transfer students as a "very specific and specialized population," and that bigger colleges are even building transfer centers. "The important thing to realize is that transfer students don't want to be spoken to like they're 18 years old," she said.

Concordia, Hamline, Saint Ben's and Saint John's each offer specialized orientations for transfer students, but their efforts also extend beyond the obvious. At Saint Ben's and Saint John's, Durbin said that she often sets up meetings with faculty from students' future departments right away for transfer students. She also makes sure the students meet with their advisors one-one-one as soon as possible and she gives them her card so they can contact her if they have any issues during their time there, she said.

For all of their focus on practicality, transfer students can sometimes tend to minimize the importance of the social aspects of college, Trulove said. Because being a part of the community actually contributes to college success, Hamline offers transfer students a discount to live on campus, he said. Hamline also helps transfer students feel connected by requiring them to take a transfer seminar, offering workshops and lunches with other transfer students and matching them up with new student mentors who also transferred.

At Concordia, transfer students benefit from a Transfer Transition course; some students are assigned to it and some elect to take it, Eicheldinger said. The goal of the class is "to help them see that not only can you do really well here, but there are all these services and events on campus you can partake in." This fall was the second time the course was offered, she said, and it has been very well-received. "The students who have taken it are doing better for it."

Trulove said that the result of all of the intentional orientation, advising and programming efforts is that transfer students are able to graduate from Hamline in a timely fashion, often in four years. "Sometimes students who have bounced around at several different community colleges can finish their baccalaureate degree here in less time than they spent at all the community colleges combined."

He noted that the high four-year graduation rate — 64 percent — at Minnesota's Private Colleges overall, many of which have significant transfer student populations, indicates that many of them are also doing a good job graduating students on time.

As for Trost, she graduates this month and already has what many students consider the ultimate goal of their college education- a job. She said she appreciated all of Hamline's efforts to make her a part of the community as a transfer student, including their flexibility in ensuring that the right credits transferred. She has some advice for future transfer students: "Ask a lot of questions and try to get involved, even for a semester."