For many students, community college is an important step on the path to a four-year
degree.
Montgomery College has a long history of successfully preparing students for transfer to four-year
institutions.
In 2014, more than 4,700 MC students transferred to more than 350 four-year institutions in
49 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
The top schools to which MC students transfer are all within the University System of Maryland,
with University of Maryland at College Park and University of Maryland - University College
enrolling the highest numbers of transfers from MC.
The three largest areas of study for students transferring out of MC are General Studies,
Arts and Sciences, and Business Administration.
Completion of a Bachelor's degree by these transfer students can greatly increase their
earning potentials.
But getting to that degree depends heavily on an effective transfer process.
If a student doesn't think about where they're transferring, or at least about what degree
program they want to transfer in or to which institution they want to transfer to, they
could take a variety of courses that are not going to meet the requirements to get to or
to graduate from that four-year institution.
And that's not cost-efficient for the student.
That's not what we want.
At MC, a number of tools help make the transfer process easier and more comprehensive than
they have been in the past.
The first is MC's improved transfer website, which includes a list of articulation agreements
and transfer access programs, step-by-step instructions on how to transfer, advising
sheets for the most popular degrees and disciplines, and a complete list of on-campus visits by
various four-year partners.
The website also has information about TRANSFERmation, the newly launched program that streamlines
the evaluation of potential transfer partnerships agreements with four-year institutions and
eases the process of partnering with MC.
TRANSFERmation was developed to really maximize the resources that we have, to make the process
more efficient and more effective.
We wanted to narrow in and say we're doing these agreements - it's a good use of our
time, it's a good use of our resources, and the students are benefitting from it.
Transfer partnership programs are established by the individual institutions themselves.
Such programs offer students a variety of options including guaranteed admission, priority
advising, early access to student services, application fee waivers, and tuition discounts.
Some examples include the Maryland Transfer Advantage Program, UMBC's Transfer Student
Alliance, and UMUC's Community College Alliance Program.
Another online resource is ARTSYS, the Articulation System for Maryland Colleges and Universities,
which provides transfer information for four-year institutions throughout the state.
Even with the extensive online information about transfer, consulting with a specialized
transfer-designated counselor is highly recommended at MC.
All counselors at Montgomery College can provide transfer advising to students.
Since the transfer counselors are a little bit more familiar with the transfer institutions,
we get the same questions on a daily basis, we're familiar with the deadlines and the
specific prerequisites and the majors at the different institutions, we can take them through
the step-by-step process of transferring.
I've constantly stayed in communication with my transfer school and with counselors here,
so it's made the process a lot easier.
Being able to know what classes to take, having a counselor that I go to each time - everything
synchs up so it's less of a mess when I go to transfer.
We want students to see a counselor every semester so we can think out and plan out
which classes they can take so that all their credits transfer.
I was a frequent visitor to the counselors' office here, especially at the Germantown
campus.
Through that counseling office I was able to find out what schools accepted what credits,
what school is looking for which classes, and the Counseling office does a great job
of doing that here - making sure that you get everything in line.
So, when I transferred, all 60 of my credits did transfer.
Other transfer tools include Transfer Day fairs on each campus, a monthly publication
on transfer issues, and a comprehensive list of transfer scholarships.
I think it's really great that they have the College Fairs so frequently.
Every time they have it, I always make sure I go and I try to visit each school that I
was interested in.
I just think that was just a great opportunity.
We send out a Transfer Times newsletter every month, and it goes out by MC email to all
the students, and there's great information on there.
We tell them about application deadlines for admission, we talk about scholarship deadlines,
and there are lots of other great transfer tips.
When you're transferring, they look to see if you have these scholarships - did you apply
for scholarships - so it definitely helps out.
It's an entire College process to get a student to transfer.
I hope that over the next couple of years, that we are able to instill that value and
educate the community enough that they do feel a part of that transfer process, and
that they have the skills to help the transfer students.
As community college outcomes become a larger part of national dialogue about higher education,
transfer processes will no doubt become part of the conversation.
When this happens MC can boast many best practices, some impressive results, and some very accomplished
students.