RADFORD, Va. (WDBJ) – Radford University is making the process of transferring from community colleges in Virginia easier for students as it launches its Tartan Transfer program.
College can be tough but making that transition from a 2-year community college to a 4-year University can bring on even more challenges and stress.
“Myself included there’s a lot of us in this area that really struggle financially and having that opportunity to apply and having a lot of financial aid access to students, it’s very easy for us to apply and very easy for us to get help,” Radford Transfer Student, Resa Mattson.
Radford University is one of the leading four-year institutions to enroll transfer students, with 20% of its population being transfers. Radford has partnered with 8 community colleges in the western part of Virginia to provide a seamless transfer experience for students. They worked together to design the Tartan Transfer Program.
Those colleges include Mountain Empire Community College, Mountain Gateway Community College, New River Community College, Patrick & Henry Community College, Southwest Virginia Community College, Virginia Highlands Community College, Virginia Western Community College and Wytheville Community College.
”Students loose credits, students have trouble finding housing, students don’t know if they are going to fit in and so we wanted to remove all of that early,” said Radford University Vice President for Enrollment Management and Strategic Communication, Dannette Gomez Beane.
“It’s that one-on-one intensive help that we all need especially students that are trying to figure things out,” said New River Community College Vice President for Instruction and Student Services, Dr. Peter Anderson.
Students entering the program will benefit from a range of opportunities aimed at making higher education easier to navigate, more affordable and career focused. These include:
– Affordability: VCCS partners offer tuition free options and the Radford Tuition Promise covers tuition for qualified Radford students.
– Maximized Transfer Credits: Curriculum alignments ensure the maximum number of credits are realized.
– Personalized Advising: Students are assigned a Tartan Transfer advisor that help students plan a course of study.
– Tartan Experience: Access to special events and activities on campus before transferring.
– Career Preparation: Special internship and co-curricular experiences prepare participants for career success.
New River Community College sees over 150 of its students transfer to Radford each year. Mattson is one of those students and believes the Tartan Transfer program will be beneficial to future transfer students.
“One thing I wish I had was more information because in high school I had to search for transfer information. Most students just go straight into a university. That’s why the Tartan program is so amazing to me because that information is going to be available,” said Mattson.
“I think our transfer students here at New River Community College have already seen the successes of their peers before them, so they see how well students have done. They go from here to Radford. So, I would encourage them to follow in the footsteps of their former peers,” said Dr. Anderson.
The Tartan Transfer Program will also add to the current financial relief programs available for students to apply to such as ACCE and the Radford Tuition Promise.
“So essentially you can get an associate degree and a bachelor’s degree with no tuition costs and we’re doing this because we don’t want students to take out loans, we don’t want students to have to ask their parents for money and we don’t want students to leave college in debt. Also to make sure they stay here, in the western part of Virginia and keep that talent here,” said Gomez Beane.
Students interested in the program can visit Radford.edu/tartan-transfer for more information.
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