The year before Sydney Anderson arrived at St. Catherine University last fall, she visited its St. Paul campus four times for events tailored to would-be transfer students like her. She stayed overnight in a dorm and scored an invite to the private college's Day of the Dead bash.
"I was involved in the St. Kate's community before I even came here," said Anderson, who attended Inver Hills Community College at the time.
In recent years, the state's private universities and colleges have made a major push to draw community college students to campus. Transfer students make up roughly a quarter of enrollment at the 17 campuses that are part of the Minnesota Private College Council. Half of those students come from two-year community colleges. For the first time Monday, private institutions across the state will host campus visits geared for such students, with more joining in for a follow-up event in February.
"Transfer students bring such rich and diverse backgrounds to our schools," said Jennifer Searles, the transfer programs coordinator at St. Catherine. "They bring so many great stories."
Augsburg University in Minneapolis, Bethel University in Arden Hills, Concordia College in Moorhead and St. Paul-based Hamline and the University of St. Thomas are also participating Monday. Colleges picked that day and Feb. 18 for the visits because community colleges are closed for Veteran's Day and Presidents' Day, respectively.
Private campuses have redoubled efforts to reach out to community college and other prospective transfer students. Admissions staffers crisscross the state together to host joint fairs at community colleges in Rochester, Duluth and elsewhere. Many have forged close relationships and pipelines for students.
Searles spends two or three days a week on community college campuses. She says many of her university's transfer students juggle studies with full-time jobs or family responsibilities and thus bring unique perspectives to the campus.
According to data from the Private College Council, 30 percent of transfer students at member institutions are first-generation students, compared to 20 percent of the student body as a whole. About 28 percent of new transfer students are minority; roughly a quarter of all freshmen are students of color.
