What's Next After Community College?: Four-Year Colleges Will Want You!

Community college can be a stepping stone to further education at a four-year institution. Four-year colleges understand that community colleges produce students who will be valuable additions to their campuses. In fact, studies have shown that community college graduates who transfer to four-year colleges and universities perform academically as well as students who have been directly admitted to those institutions^.

Aim as high as you like when you start thinking about transferring to a four-year institution. Community college transfer students can be found at many private and public colleges and universities across the nation, including highly selective ones such as Smith College, the University of Michigan, and Columbia University, among others. Many state universities and college systems favor qualified students who transfer from a community college in their state and make it easier for them to enroll and gain credit for their community college coursework.

Because you and you alone are ultimately responsible for ensuring your credits get transferred, you'll need to understand the transfer process and requirements. Your community college transfer office, as well as the transfer office of the four-year institution where you intend to apply, will be your best sources of information. You'll also need to get an early start, and the transfer timeline later in this chapter will be helpful to your planning process.

SNAPSHOT: Pamela Karwasinski was 40 when she was admitted to prestigious Smith College after graduating from Atlantic County (now Cape) Community College (New Jersey). Married and a mother at an early age, Pamela grew up in a rural area of New Jersey in an economically depressed family under difficult circumstances. In her twenties she returned to school for her GED. After she separated from her husband, she realized she needed more education. Through the help of a local community college guidance counselor she enrolled in the college's displaced homemakers program, which she attended for a year before moving and enrolling in ACCC.

"I wasn't convinced that I could do well, especially as I ­hadn't done well in high school. I started getting A's in classes like math. That really boosted my self-esteem, especially when I realized I was earning those A's through hard work; no one was giving them to me. When I was ready to graduate, a friend told me about Smith College's Ada Comstock Scholars Program for nontraditional-age women whose education has been interrupted. I didn't think I was good enough to be among the best of the best women students in the country, plus only 60 are chosen each year from a few hundred applicants. Friends encouraged me to apply. My community college professors wrote me recommendations. I was accepted not only to Smith, but also to Mt. Holyoke College, Rutgers University, Lesley College, as well as to my local college, Richard Stockton College of New Jersey."

Start the Transfer Process Early

If you know you'll want to continue for your bachelor's degree when you enroll in community college, then start investigating the transfer process your first semester. Why? Because you must be sure that the courses you take will be transferable to the four-year institution of your choice and that you start your transfer process in a timely manner so you get admitted when you plan to attend.

Edwin Roman, transfer and articulation advisor, Bronx Community College (New York) counsels, "Many students are confused about what degrees and coursework are most transferable. If you're getting an AAS in Accounting, you're training to be a bookkeeper and to go to work immediately. If you're getting an AS degree in Business with an accounting major, however, you're getting a degree and coursework that can be more easily transferred if you decide to go on. If you don't understand the difference, you can end up with the wrong degree and credits that aren't acceptable for transfer to a four-year institution. You may end up taking extra coursework and spending time and money that wouldn't have been necessary. Don't be afraid to ask for help in understanding the transfer process and how to plan so you're on the right track."

You also want to be sure that you can transfer the maximum number of credits so that you don't have to repeat coursework for which you have already paid at community college or take additional coursework to meet the four-year institution's requirements. You may want to take only a few courses at community college before transferring to a four-year institution, but you still want to be sure those credits transfer.

Get Expert Advice

Transferring can be complicated even when transfer or articulation agreements are in place between your community college and four-year institutions. If you enroll in a transfer degree program or you just want to transfer a few courses to a four-year institution, your best course of action is to speak with an advisor in your community college's transfer office and to a transfer advisor at the four-year institution that interests you. These advisors will be your best sources of information for helping you understand the transfer program and process.
Transfer advisors can help you:

• Discover information about the transfer process at four-year institutions that interest you.
• Understand the academic requirements needed for a successful transfer.
• Develop a transfer plan of action to make sure you'll be on track with appropriate coursework.
• Gather information about the college's articulation agreements and others types of agreements with four-year institutions. It is helpful to read your community college's articulation agreement with the particular four-year college that you're interested in attending.

Transfer advisors can also tell you about other resources, such as:

• Transfer workshops and newsletters
• College transfer fairs, where you can speak to admissions offices from in-state and out-of-state four-year colleges and universities
• Visits organized by your college to local four-year institutions, as well as other college preview days or open houses
• Transfer guides or sheets that show transfer and admissions requirements for four-year institutions and their programs to help you plan your strategy and timetable for applying
• Electronic links to transfer offices of four-year institutions; plus print resources such as college catalogs, financial aid guides, college applications, and more

Your advisor can help you understand the requirements and map out a plan that will prepare you for a smooth transfer. Again, however, it's ultimately your responsibility to research and understand the transfer process and find out what will or will not transfer.

Remember, you will still need to apply and be admitted to the four-year college of your choice. With the right planning, you may be able to enter a four-year institution with junior standing or have advanced standing in a major or bachelor's degree program that interests you. You may still need to meet other requirements of the four-year institution or your major but you'll be ahead in terms of credits that will count toward your bachelor's degree.

Early on, when you know where you want to go, speak with the four-year institution's transfer advisor and check out the transfer information on their Web site. Joan Jagodnik, assistant director of community college relations at Portland State University (Oregon), observes, "It's helpful for students to speak not only with their community college advisors, but also to get advice from the four-year institution. In a sense, they can work backwards by first getting the general education, major, degree, and transfer requirements from the four-year institution and then matching up their program at community college to those requirements. There are lots of opportunities to meet with transfer advisors from four-year institutions. Three or four times a term, for example, we send advisors to community colleges in the area. Students can bring their transcripts to see if they are on track for transfer. Our office is also equipped with multiple resources for anyone who wants to come in to get advice about transferring."

TIP: Some state education systems have online transfer information for their colleges and universities. These systems allow students and advisers to look up course equivalencies and courses recommended for specific majors, and sometimes to evaluate students' courses and grades to determine course equivalencies at transfer institutions. The Maryland ARTSYS (http://artweb.usmd.edu) shows recommended transfer programs for all Maryland public institutions and many private institutions. You can see what courses to take at a Maryland community college that will transfer smoothly into a specific major at a four-year institution. Check with your transfer office to see if an online system is available in your state.

Four-year institutions, especially those that have a high percentage of transfer students from community colleges, are very sensitive to your needs and concerns. Take advantage of their expertise and transfer office services. Their goal is to ease your transition to the college or university and to give you a point of contact on campus even before you become a student there.

 
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