Lost in transfer

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LINDSAY MAST, HOST: Today is Wednesday, July 15th.

Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Lindsay Mast.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher.

Coming next on The World and Everything in It: Transfer troubles.

Students often enroll at community college as a first step toward a bachelor’s degree. But a confusing and difficult transfer process can be a roadblock keeping many from achieving that goal.

MAST: WORLD’s Lauren Smyth has the story of how one student beat those odds.

LAUREN SMYTH: Sydney Davis knew she was going to Hillsdale College, just like her older brother.

DAVIS: I thought of Hillsdale as this big, awesome place, like a castle. I was just dreaming about it for so long.

But when she applied—she didn’t get in.

DAVIS: I got deferred my senior year because of my SAT scores. And Dean Pete was like: “Come back in two years. Go get your associate’s and come back.”

That meant enrolling at a community college. Most only offer a few bachelor’s options–if any. Instead, students can start or complete certificate and associate’s degree programs and then transfer to a four-year college.

MARKLAND: I would say well over half, maybe 60% of our students come in thinking that they want a bachelor’s degree, at least at some point.

That’s Scott Markland, vice president at Sinclair College, a community college in Ohio. Three years ago, the school received a grant to build its Transfer Center. Students can connect with representatives at other colleges and get help with finances and credit transfer.

MARKLAND: The research is clear that planning is what matters, but, you know, at a big community college, students sometimes can get lost.

Community colleges are in high demand. About 40% of U.S. undergraduates are enrolled at one, looking for affordable, flexible ways to get an education. But of those, fewer than 20% will go on to complete a bachelor’s degree within six years.

Some students just don’t need an advanced degree. But others face too many hurdles: credits that don’t transfer, higher tuition costs at four-year schools, or a swamp of confusing paperwork.

DAVIS: That’s another thing, is also the process of learning who to email. And I know that seems so miniscule, but it’s really not.

Davis had her sights set on that four-year degree. She spent two years at a local community college and got her associate’s degree in psychology. Then she applied to Hillsdale again and watched her mailbox.

DAVIS: Something came in the mail today. It says “good news from Hillsdale…. “Dear Sydney, I am pleased to offer you admission for the fall 2021 semester.”

That acceptance letter was only the first step.

DAVIS: So the transfer process was awful. I’m not going to sugarcoat it. Hillsdale is a great college. The one downfall is that when you transfer, not all of your credits will transfer.

Hillsdale College didn’t have a transfer agreement with Davis’s community college, so she had to restart her psychology major from scratch.

By her fourth year of school, physical and mental fatigue began to weigh her down. She was diagnosed with a nervous system disorder and had to walk with a cane.

DAVIS: If I move my posture, I feel like I’m going to faint. And imagine trying to do that while going to class, and going to the student union and grabbing lunch, and with tons of people, not being able to find seating all the time. I had a conversation with the head of my department, and I told him, “I’m going to quit.”

Davis decided to go part-time. That gave her the chance to rest and heal, but it also meant she’d have to stay for at least another year and potentially incur extra tuition costs.

Here’s Scott Markland again.

MARKLAND: It’s the part-time students that struggle the most, because they need a lot more support, and they have this longer duration of time. And the longer the duration of time, the more opportunities for other things to come up in their lives that make education more difficult.

Markland says it’s common for part-time students to need up to a decade to finish their degree. At Sinclair College, the transfer center can sometimes stay involved with students for even longer than the traditional college career. But Markland believes the struggle is worth it.

MARKLAND: The economic and social mobility outcomes are—I mean, look at the data. It’s clear that if you can get on track and stay on track, the outcomes are going to make a huge difference for you and your family.

Those with a bachelor’s degree earn 86% more on average than peers who didn’t attend college. They’re significantly less likely to be unemployed, and they report greater financial wellbeing than groups with any other level of education.

Davis stuck it out and made it through her final semesters at Hillsdale. Five years after her first day at community college, Davis graduated with her bachelor’s degree in psychology.

She didn’t know how rare that achievement was. If she had:

DAVIS: I think I would’ve worked a little harder. Like, I worked hard, and I did fine, but still probably worked a little harder, stressed out a little less. Knowing that I’m part of a statistic makes it feel so much more different and real.

Davis is now a case worker with CPS. She says it’s a job that lets her help her community, and one she never would have landed without that bachelor’s degree.

For WORLD, I’m Lauren Smyth in Hillsdale, Michigan.

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