Shortly after Ava Digovanni graduated from high school, she left home to attend Kent State University in Ohio. She hoped to begin a new chapter in her life but instead found herself struggling to fit into a completely new environment. After her first semester, she returned home and attended SUNY Orange in Middletown, New York, where she earned her associate degree. She then transferred to Montclair State University in New Jersey, until finally moving to Tennessee. At the University of Tennessee, she found the college experience and community she was looking for and hopes to earn her bachelor’s degree there.
“No matter how many times you transfer, it can always get better,” Digovanni said. “Only you know what’s the right fit for you.”
Digovanni’s journey is just one example of the many different paths transfer students take. Most community college students hope to transfer to a four-year institution, but fewer than a third end up doing so within six years. Transfer students encounter many different challenges, including problems transferring credit and a lack of support and guidance, but also trouble adjusting to their campus and difficulty connecting with other students.
As a transfer student myself, I experienced the difference transfer support systems can make. After graduating from SUNY Orange, I enrolled in Baruch College and participated in their Bridge to Baruch program, which introduced me to opportunities and resources that I wouldn’t have known existed otherwise.
To better understand the transfer experience—and explore what colleges can do to help transfer students succeed—I spoke with students from several higher education institutions whose transfer journeys took them down different paths.
Like Digovanni, Zoë Matias also transferred in search of a better fit. She started at the University of Rochester in New York but currently is attending George Washington University in Washington, DC. Her desire for a more rigorous international affairs program and difficulty adjusting to upstate New York led her to transfer. Now, Matias serves as the community outreach director of the Transfer Student Alliance at GW, helping transfer students navigate concerns relating to admissions, financial aid, and campus involvement. Many of the challenges she hears about from students are about transferring credits and making friends at such a big school.
“People already have their set friend groups,” Matias said. “I think the social aspect is really daunting.”
For some students the transition is less difficult. Aidan Walden is a transfer student from Suffolk County Community College who attends Baruch College, where he studies finance. He described his transfer experience as relatively smooth and easy to manage. Although he was aware of transfer programs and transfer orientations, he didn’t feel that he needed them. Advisors were available to address questions and concerns, and he was able to adjust to his new school and make friends on his own.
Even with a smooth transition, Walden missed a deadline to submit his transcripts and dealt with miscommunication regarding his need to complete placement tests. A more comprehensive checklist showing deadlines and requirements, “definitely would’ve been helpful,” he said.
Many four-year colleges design their policies around incoming first-year students, with less consideration for how they affect transfer students. C., who only wanted to be identified by her initial, is a transfer student from the New York Institute of Technology who now attends Stony Brook University, where she majors in computer science. Stony Brook’s housing guidelines give priority to students who have lived on campus longer. As a result, C. ended up with “bad” housing, even though she was an incoming senior. She mentioned similar issues with registration and other deadlines.
Although C.’s experience with housing made her feel overlooked as a transfer student, support from friends made some parts of the transition easier. She transferred in search of a more challenging computer science program and a traditional college experience living on campus. Two friends already attending Stony Brook helped C. research requirements, plan courses, and prepare for campus life.
“They were very helpful in my process, and without them, I would have been overwhelmed with everything that I needed to consider,” she said.
Advisors also held multiple meetings with her before registration, along with online and in-person orientation events that introduced her to resources and other transfer students. The support and guidance C. received helped her feel more comfortable in a new environment.
These students’ experiences show that transfer students face more than one type of challenge. While some students need help building a community, others need help with receiving straightforward information about credits, deadlines, and requirements. These challenges are harder to deal with when there isn’t a clear path students can follow from one institution to another. But colleges can take steps to support transfer students and make them feel welcome on campus. Simply having accessible information can make the transition easier. Having transfer orientations specifically for transfer students is another way colleges can avoid making students feel like outsiders and encourage them to meet fellow transfers.
After successfully transferring, I experienced similar challenges. Initially, some of my credits were not accepted, but I learned through an advisor that I could request a reevaluation. Some of those credits eventually transferred and I was able to stay on track to graduate, but without that guidance I wouldn’t have known that reevaluation was an option.
Tatiana Velasco, a CCRC researcher who focuses on transfer, says advising is a great tool to help transfer students, but it can only go so far without clear transfer pathways in place.
“Advising matters, of course, but if there’s no map, your advisor won’t be able to see much either,” she said.
In states such as Washington and California, community colleges and four-year institutions have created transfer pathways that determine how courses are applied toward a bachelor’s degree, Velasco said. Instead of leaving it to students to figure out, these pathways establish from the start what credits will be counted after transferring.
The students I spoke with took different paths to their current higher education institution, and the support they needed was also different. But to find the right fit and avoid wasting credits they had already earned, they all needed clear information and guidance from the beginning. Transfer students shouldn’t be required to figure everything out on their own. Creating clear transfer pathways and making information more accessible can help students adjust to their new institution more easily and find their place.
Claribeth Gutierrez is a student at Baruch College and a 2026 summer intern at CCRC.
