You want transfer students to feel at home on campus. How can you boost their retention rates?

Transfer students should be having a local buddy at the campus to be familiar with the new environment. This will help both of them to learn new culture and establish connection which might extend for future cooperation.

A peer mentoring program helps transfer students on a new campus. It connects them with current students who understand their situation. These mentors offer guidance and help build relationships. They share tips about campus life, academics, and resources, making it easier for transfer students to adapt and feel less alone. Mentoring creates a strong support system that enhances their college journey.

Student retention is a measurement of successful completion of academic programs. Schools with higher graduation rates thus have higher retention rates.

From my experience, transfer students need to first feel at home. Once transfered, they ought to be blind paired with a local student to enable them break the ice and fear that comes with a new environment. Better is the scenerio when these blind peers have a set of issues they are expected to tick off in trying to make the transfer students comfortable. Things such as extended campus tours, teaching of basics to survive local conditions, and also offering an easy to navigate guide around the campus to the new learners. The idea is to enable them obtain their pace. This can only happen when peers with an open heart voluntarily take up the leading role to suppport.

Academic advising is very important for transfer students. They must meet at least once in their first semester with their academic advisor to build relationships and know available resources on and off campus. If possible, set SMART but realistic goals with them. Encourage them to check in with their academic advisor at least once a month if needs be so they can make sure the student is making progress towards their goal.

Reminds me of middle and high schools where we engaged so much in social activities that later joining college and socializing was just a walk-over. Up until now we are the best of friends with some of those ‘besties’.

It is crucial to not only provide these resources, but ensure the knowledge of their existence accessible for all the students who need it, and marketed internally and consistently. It also helps to use student socialisation opportunities to encourage active use of the resources. And the teaching staff have a responsibility to highlight where to find these resources at the beginning of each course, at minimum.

We have created a course section that fulfills a major requirement dedicated to our transfer students. Encouraging them to enroll in this section helps them to build community with each other. Last semester we had our first lunch for new majors with faculty including transfer students. This was a fun way for students to connect, and to get to know faculty members. I encourage our transfer students to get involved with a club or organization on campus. During our first advising appointment after explaining how their credits fulfill graduation requirements, I bring to their attention internship opportunities and experiential courses they may be interested in so they can plan ahead and take advantage of as many opportunities as possible.