Campus Connection

The College Excellence Program opens doors to higher ed.

Give NowMost students who start community college want a bachelor’s degree, but few get one—and during the pandemic the number of transfer students declined as community college students struggled to pay bills, stay safe, and care for family.

Before the pandemic, students of color and students from low-income backgrounds already lagged in attainment of bachelor’s degrees, which open the door to higher paying, more-secure jobs. The College Excellence Program has been responding to this challenge by strengthening college transfer systems through initiatives like Tackling Transfer, a three-year collaboration with Sova Solutions and HCM Strategists that engages education leaders in Virginia, Texas, and Minnesota. In Virginia, CEP has been working with leaders to bring together two- and four-year colleges to ensure that community college students have equitable opportunities to transfer to, and succeed at, four-year colleges. With CEP’s help, 38 campuses joined to shape legislation and campus policies to improve transfer pathways and student advising. Transfer Virginia has engaged more than 1,500 faculty members, administrators, and policymakers from Virginia colleges and universities, the K–12 sphere, and college leadership associations to improve many aspects of the transfer experience for students.

Even while moving classes and services online because of Covid-19, schools worked together to provide clear, consistent information as students navigated transfer during the upheaval. Other states are learning from progress in these three states. As college transfer becomes more logical, America can make higher education
more accessible.