Why Community College Students Make Successful Transfer Students

Journal of College Admission, Winter 2007 by Urso, David, Sygielski, John J "Ski"

Today, years after these initial successes, in addition to being a head nurse at the nursing home, she is delighted to help two of her three children with their coursework at the same community college, while she is completing her master's degree in nursing through an on-line higher education institution.

The previous stories represent a common paradigm shift at the community college level. Schools are shifting away from simply helping students register for classes and shifting towards helping them identify and become involved with all of the parts of the "traditional" college experience that are available to them.

Mary Ann and Tony, as community college students, represent half of the nation's first-time college freshman. The colleges' accessibility is facilitated by open admission policies and low tuitions. Consequently, community college enrollments reflect the rich diversity of the nation, and campuses are populated with people of all ages, ethnic and cultural heritages and socioeconomic backgrounds.

Through these two highly-typical stories, the strengths of the community college transfer student can easily be extrapolated. Although this list represents only a segment of the extensive gifts this particular population brings, the following specific characteristics signify a great beginning on the quest to better understand them.

Leadership Skills

The 400,000 individuals who graduate annually from community colleges have the opportunity to become involved m their college governments, student clubs and associations, churches, local elementary and high schools, and in a wide variety of local civic and social organizations. With developed leadership skills at a community college, they are now able to actively participate in many causes with a high level of experience in similar organizations at four-year institutions or in nearby communities. Throughout the community college experience, the avenue is provided for the growth of self-confidence and willingness to become actively involved in the life of the college grows along with the passion for making a difference in their college, residence hall and local community. Often times, students volunteer to become more involved in the life of the college by sitting on department of studies advisory groups, various student groups, and many different on- and off-campus clubs and organizations. In many cases, these individuals emerge as both vocal and silent leaders and are able to rally others in ways that were developed while they were studying at their local community college.

Perseverance

The stories of Mary Ann and Tony are very common within the community college environment. In Tony's case, he had to learn how to achieve his academic goals in new ways because of his learning disability. In Mary Ann's case, as in so many cases, she had to overcome obstacles of low self-esteem and learn how to be successful in college since she was the first in her family to attend. Both of these individuals found, in their community college, an environment that helped them succeed in student specific ways.