Ramapo College One of Many Who Have Embraced Transfer Students

By NICK NATALE

MAHWAH- Transfer students had long faced the challenge of being ignored by higher education, but recently schools across the nation, including Ramapo College, have begun to accept them more and more.

Ramapo has continued the trend of increasing acceptance of transfer students from both four-year and two-year colleges. In 2019 alone, the school accepted 977 out of the 1287 transfer applications, and the entirety of the student body at Ramapo is 10.29 percent transfer students, according to CampusReel, a website that collects data on colleges across the country.

Transfer students have always been a fabric of higher education, but for a while never got the attention they deserved. They play a large role in helping replace lost revenue by students who leave after their first or second year. For Ramapo, this means supplementing about $15,000 per student in tuition each semester.

“I went to community college after high school because I knew it would save me money in the long run. I spent a fraction of the price getting a similar education at a two year school then I would if I went to a four year school,” said Max Birrer, 20, a recent Ramapo College transfer.

Students who have transferred  from previous colleges and universities make up for around 38 percent of all students in higher education. A large portion of transfer students come from two-year community colleges, and bring with them an associates agree as well as 60 earned credits.

This new report reveals some surprising statistics about #CommunityCollege transfers! Learn more ?https://t.co/mus9k93rKd #HigherEd #EdChat

— eCampus News (@ecampusnews) July 22, 2019

Research shows that out of 852,439 students who have enrolled at a community college, 268,749 (31.5 percent) of them have transferred to a four-year institution within six years.

The impact of transfer students around the country has not gone unnoticed. An article with the New York Times quotes  executive director of the National Institute for the Study of Transfer Students at the University of North Georgia, Janet Marling, and she said,”At this moment in time, transfer students are receiving the most positive attention from higher education that they ever have.”

Statistics and quotes from universities around the country have shown that transfer students have become a massive part of the collegiate ecosystem. They were once a group taken from granted, but have now become instrumental for the success of a college or university.

The Life of a Ramapo Transfer Student

Transferring to a new school can come with many challenging obstacles, finding your way around campus, making new friends, but most importantly, developing a daily routine, and for Ramapo transfer student Anthony Tucci a routine is what helped him adjust to a new school.

“Being a commuter and coming to a new school I knew that coming up with a routine would be important. I had to make sure I was giving myself enough time to get ready in the morning, and leaving myself enough time after class to get all my work done,” said Tucci.

“The first week at Ramapo was difficult trying to manage my time and also trying my best to get involved. The school provides a lot of opportunity for transfer students to get involved, and I checked out the student involvement fair to see what I can get involved with on campus,” continued Tucci. “But really my daily routine is I go to class, get some work done in the commuter lounge between classes, and then go home and finish up any work. So far that’s what I’ve done the past two months and its been working for me.”