Affordability, proximity and close relationships with professors; these are some of the reasons why students have transferred to IU Southeast.

Valeria Aramburu, an academic advisor in the school of natural sciences for four years said transfer students can be students that have started at a community college and wish to pursue a bachelor’s degree, students who have decided to relocate, decided to change their career path or changed schools for more affordable tuition.

According to the IU Southeast census, there were 430 new transfer students during the fall of 2016. Out of the 620 students Aramburu advises, many of those students transferred from Ivy Tech Community College in Sellersburg, Indiana or Jefferson Community College and Technical college in Louisville. There are also students who have traveled a great distance from home.

“I have advised students that started their college education in another country, like: Cuba, Honduras and Kenya. These students moved to the United States for various reasons, then continued their education at IU Southeast. I have also had transfer students from California and Texas,” Aramburu said.

Aramburu said one of the reasons why students pick IU Southeast is because it is the most affordable four year college in the Kentuckiana region. Many Kentucky residents pay in-state tuition, students receive the best education for the money, caring and supportive professors, and multiple opportunities to do research.

Aramburu advises Autumn Day, a freshman biology major. Day is a transfer student from Eastern Kentucky University and the University of Louisville. At EKU she pursued a music degree for one semester but when she transferred to U of L, she switched her major so she could become a veterinarian.

Although Day was in the field she said she was passionate about, she said she didn’t succeed as much as she had hoped at U of L.

“It went better but I was still in my high school phase and still didn’t know how to do college very well,” Day said. “Like a typical student does on their first semester, I slacked off on homework and didn’t study much and made some bad decisions. I will admit I wrote a few papers drunk.”

The following semester Day decided to enroll in IU Southeast.  She said two of her siblings graduated from IU Southeast and said it was more affordable than U of L. Day said the classes are smaller and the professors know you by name at IU Southeast.

“That makes me very happy because I can have that one on one relationship with my professors,” Day said. “I am still really nervous about this semester after my past experiences with college, but I’m also very excited I made the switch to IU Southeast.”

Another transfer student that started out in music is Christian Thomas, a junior history major with a double minor in political science and sociology. Thomas started out going to DePauw University his freshman and sophomore year. He said he concluded that he did not want to do music as a career even though he received a full ride scholarship to play trombone at DePauw.

“I just didn’t like focusing on trombone so intensively and for a career,” Thomas said.

Thomas added he didn’t enjoy the social atmosphere at DePauw.

“I wasn’t a big fan of the campus climate. It was a very pretentious environment, a lot of the people there were snobby,” Thomas said. “I really liked IU Southeast because it was close to home and it took away the stress of living far away and having to stay on campus. And similar to DePauw, IU Southeast also has small class sizes, which I really like too.”

Although there is a population of IU Southeast students who live on campus, an overwhelming majority commute from home which can help with students’ stress.

Thomas said he loved how nice the people at IU Southeast are and said the people are very open and accepting.

“It’s a very welcoming campus,” he said. “I was a little apprehensive about coming here because at my old school there were a lot of people who were difficult to get to know. Everyone here is really easy to get along with and are really friendly.”

There were 4,107 non-traditional students at IU Southeast during the fall of 2016. Among them was Amber Pappas, a junior in psychology with a minor in art.

Pappas graduated from Casey County High school in 2001 and went straight into a community college. She lost her job and had to quit school to find new employment. Throughout her life she was jumping from job to job and wasn’t happy, until she met her husband.

“We have pushed each other to do what we want,” Pappas said. “I worked at a beach mold and tool and I paid to put him through barber college. And now he helps put me through school and is my biggest supporter.”

Pappas restarted her college education at Ivy Tech and earned her general education credits and is currently attending IU Southeast for art therapy.

“I have battled with depression for years and when I lost my job at the beach and mold I started painting,” Pappas said. “Everyone is so friendly and there are so many familiar faces from Ivy Tech and around the community. I feel right at home.”