The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic up-ended everything, including our education system. Moving forward, one of the biggest priorities—and challenges—college and university leaders face is improving undergraduate student success for our entire student community. Increasingly, that community includes community college transfer students.
Nationwide, the number of students who transfer to four-year institutions is growing. In fall 2023, enrollment rose by 5.3 percent and transfer students now represent more than 13 percent of all continuing and returning undergraduates. The number of transfer students from underrepresented communities, including Black and Hispanic students, rural students and students from low socioeconomic backgrounds, has increased as well. At the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts (LSA) at the University of Michigan, transfer students make up about 18 percent of the new students who join LSA each year.
While the numbers are promising, there is much more we can do. For example, while 80 percent of community college students plan to pursue a four-year degree, only 16 percent successfully complete a four-year degree within six years. Our system for encouraging community college success, inviting application to four-year colleges, easing the transfer process and supporting transfer students once they arrive on a new campus is just not as effective as it should be.
By becoming better advocates for transfer students, universities can improve long-term economic and social outcomes for these individuals, for the state, and for the country. According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, those who earn a bachelor’s degree have a higher rate of employment than those with a high school diploma or associate’s degree. They’re also more likely to earn a higher salary with a bachelor’s degree than with just a high school diploma or associate’s degree. As a result, they can better support their families, purchase homes, launch new businesses in their communities, and more.
As dean of undergraduate education at LSA, I believe in the value of the liberal arts. In our college, we work constantly to ensure that the undergraduate student experience we provide is equitable and inclusive, and the very particular needs of transfer students must be a part of that conversation. As the largest college at the University of Michigan and one of the leading liberal arts colleges in the country, last year more than 1,000 transfer students came to LSA to complete their bachelor’s degree.
The transfer student experience is not one-size-fits-all. We have students who transfer from community colleges and four-year colleges. Some of our transfer students are military veterans, parents and international students.
Universities need to offer programming designed to meet the needs of these students’ unique backgrounds, interests and goals before they set foot on Michigan’s campus. At LSA, we provide programs and initiatives that create a clear and more accessible pathway for individuals transferring to the university, including those who may not have thought Michigan was an option for them.
In 2018, our undergraduate education division launched the Transfer Bridges to Michigan program, which offers academic and social support both while students are attending community colleges and once they are admitted as U-M students. This program has developed into a partnership with nearly 30 community colleges across the state of Michigan and offers students tailored academic advising, scholarships that provide free tuition to some students, research opportunities, internships, peer connections through our LSA Transfer Ambassadors program and more. As a result, more than 350 students transfer from community colleges across Michigan to LSA each year.
LSA’s Transfer Bridges to the Humanities@Michigan (TB2H) program is a partnership with three community colleges—Grand Rapids Community College, Henry Ford College and Schoolcraft College—to offer students interested in the humanities the opportunity to attend the University of Michigan to complete a bachelor’s degree. This past year, 326 students from the three partner community colleges participated in TB2H. These programs help students to “cross the bridge” from community college to U-M. This fall, 73 TB2H applied to Michigan and 52 were admitted.
We also have Transfer Bridges for Military Connected Students, which provides pre-transfer academic advising, peer mentorship, financial support and more for active and veteran military students.
The LSA Newnan Advising Center’s Transfer Student Program provides a number of tools and resources to help transfer students better connect with the university, including housing information, study spaces and access to student organizations.
Navigating a large university such as Michigan can feel overwhelming. It is essential that students feel a sense of belonging, and that includes having a physical space to serve as their home away from home. In 2019, we opened the LSA Transfer Student Center, which offers one place where students can study, connect with staff and other transfer students, and access resources and information to support their journey at U-M.
Like other college students, many transfer students need and seek financial support. We should provide financial resources that are easily accessible and can reduce or eliminate student loan debt. The LSA Scholarship Office offers a suite of scholarships, including scholarships specifically for incoming and returning undergraduate transfer students. The funding from these scholarships covers various expenses, such as tuition, room and board, textbooks, and internships.
These are just a few examples that illustrate what higher education, in general, can do to be more inclusive of and accessible for transfer students. We cannot be part of the process only once they start at a four-year university. We have to provide support throughout the entire postsecondary journey: before they arrive, while they are working towards their bachelor’s degree and after they graduate. Transfer students are part of the fabric of our student community.
As the flagship public research university in Michigan, we are working intentionally and dutifully to admit students from across the state who can succeed here, if we provide them the access, resources and community they need. In order to thrive here and beyond the classroom, we must provide the keys to academic, financial, and social support, so they can unlock the door to professional and personal success.
Tim McKay is the associate dean of undergraduate education at the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts at the University of Michigan.
