They walk among campus with perhaps more diverse college experience than others. They come from the party schools, the two-year schools and the private schools to the IU Southeast campus. They are the transfer students.
According to the 2012 and 2013 enrollment summaries by the Institutional Research and Assessment of IU Southeast, 33.2 percent of the 2013 fall enrollments were transfer students. In the fall of 2012, 33.71 percent of enrolled students transferred. According to a 2012 report by the National Student Clearinghouse Research, one in three students transfer from one college to another before attaining their degree.
Although there are various reasons why a student may decide to transfer schools, Nicole McKendrick, admissions counselor and transfer specialist, has narrowed the list down to a few main reasons why students transfer to IU Southeast.
Students may begin their college career with the intention to transfer.
McKendrick said many students may start out at a school like Ivy Tech or Jefferson Community and Technical College in order to work on their general credit requirements, then transfer to IU Southeast to obtain a four-year degree.
“There are also the students who went away from home to college at maybe a larger university, and it didn’t work out for whatever reason so they decide to come back to school to be closer to home or a job,” McKendrick said.
Zach Edwards, secondary education junior, made the difficult decision to leave college at IU-Bloomington. Edwards moved away from home to IU-Bloomington his freshman year, and after one semester he transferred to IU Southeast.
Edwards said there were many distractions at IU-Bloomington which led to his decision to transfer: the free gym membership, watching the IU basketball games, playing basketball and even a sloppy roommate.
“My grades were not keeping up, so in order to get better grades I came home where I knew I would be pushed by my parents,” Edwards said.
Edwards said he also missed his family and friends and had job opportunities waiting at home.
McKendrick said another group of students who transfer are the ones who took time off to start a family, and want to come back to college to finish their education and pursue a career.
McKendrick said students most commonly transfer from Ivy Tech and Jefferson Community and Technical College, although some transfer from small private colleges such as Bellarmine University and Spaulding University, mainly due to the cost of tuition. McKendrick also finds the transfers who are from large universities come from IU-Bloomington or the University of Louisville.
Kari Faustyn, criminal justice senior, transferred during her senior year from the University of Louisville to IU Southeast. Her younger sister had been attending IU Southeast, and when Faustyn decided to take a tour of the school with her sister, she fell in love with the campus.
“U of L was unprofessional, unfriendly and they did not have prompt answers for things,” Faustyn said.
She said the small campus, lower tuition, the helpfulness from faculty and the attendance policies of professors were all factors in her decision to transfer to IU Southeast.
“I like that professors care about their students and that they are in class,” Faustyn said. “That didn’t happen at U of L.”
Thomas Thompson, advertising senior, said he transferred from the University of Louisville to IU Southeast for the smaller class sizes, extra attention from professors and the resources offered on campus.
“At IUS we actually have a Writing Center where you can go to get help with a paper you are writing,” Thompson said. “U of L doesn’t have that.”
Edwards said that the smaller campus size was a deciding factor for him to transfer as well.
“IUS is much smaller than IU-Bloomington and there are less things to do on campus, but in the classroom you could not ask for a better atmosphere,” Edwards said. “The teachers are close knit with their students and that seems to make it a lot nicer.”
Thompson said he likes that the faculty and staff on campus are hands-on and willing to help.
“If you need help, they will actually tell you where to go and how to go about doing it,” Thompson said.
McKendrick said the transfer process can be complex because each student has a different background.
“When students apply, we look for at least a 2.0 GPA and that they are able to provide us with official transcripts,” McKendrick said. “We usually look to see if they have college level English and math.”
Thompson said he applied and submitted his transcripts to IU Southeast and was notified with his acceptance soon after.
Thompson said he attended the IU Southeast transfer orientation where he was able to take tour of campus.
“The tour was helpful and showed me where places were on campus,” said Thompson. “I did not have to take a first year seminar class.”
McKendrick said some students may not have to take a first year seminar class, depending on how many credit hours they have.
McKendrick said students commonly transfer from IU Southeast because they may be pursuing a career in something that the campus does not offer. She has also known students to transfer from IU Southeast to a larger university after they have attained their general requirements.
The IUS Admissions webpage offers more information and resources for transfer students. The webpage can be found at ius.edu/admissions.
