Transfer Promise: The benefits of UNCG begin at community colleges

Posted on October 13, 2022

New students and transfer students tour the UNCG campus.

Students are on the move on UNC Greensboro’s beautiful campus, whether running to their next class, meeting with a professor or advisor, or snagging an empty pod at the Jackson Library.

But UNCG’s enrollment and admissions staff knows not everyone can come to the campus or stay as long as they’d like.

How can they offer on-campus services and opportunities to a student who is interested in transferring to UNCG, but is still taking classes 80 miles away at Wake Technical Community College, one of UNCG’s five Transfer Promise partners? With intention.

The week of October 17-21 is National Transfer Student Week, which celebrates transfer students and the professionals who support them on their journeys. Close to half of UNCG’s undergraduate population are transfer students.

“There are many reasons students start at the community college level,” says Joel Lee, who is associate vice chancellor for enrollment management and interim director of admissions. “We want to make transferring as seamless as possible.”

With the Transfer Promise program, students have face-to-face conversations with a UNCG advisor in a Wake Technical Community College campus office, accessing Spartan resources in Raleigh.

Currently, the Transfer Promise program includes five community college partners in North Carolina: Alamance, Central Piedmont, Guilford Technical, Forsyth Technical, and Wake Technical.

Holistic Remodel

It’s on us to make transferring as affordable and as efficient as possible.

Joel Lee, UNCG Admissions and Enrollment

“We designed a model to be more holistic,” says Lee. “Benefits were left unused by a lot of students because they had to physically come to our campus. We’ve tried to turn that model on its head a bit and bring the benefits to the community colleges.”

Even before students apply or have been admitted: 

  • UNCG experts will be present in their college transfer success courses.
  • Students can take select courses at UNCG, sometimes at the community college tuition rate. 
  • Students can qualify for enhanced scholarship opportunities without any additional application.
  • Students can begin connecting with future UNCG classmates.

Titans2Spartans

Guilford Technical Community College (GTCC) recently rolled out the Transfer Promise program called Titans2Spartans. Roughly 400 students from GTCC transfer to UNCG each year.

“This is in place for different kinds of students,” says Lee. “They can come talk to us in their very first week as GTCC students. If they want to start putting together a four-year plan that includes two years at the community college, they can start doing that from the onset.”

Transfer Promise builds off previous programs, such as Spartan Passage, to ensure that more people can participate. Earlier models centered around full-time transfer students or cohorts and had certain restrictions that prevented some transfers from participation. 

“If transfer students weren’t reaping the benefits of the prior program, then we wanted to change,” says Lee. “We want 100 percent of students considering transfer to have access to 100 percent of the benefits.”

UNCG also created transfer-centric physical and virtual tours. UNCG counselors are assigned to other community colleges across the state to answer questions that may be different from a traditional-aged student applying straight out of high school.

Transfer Trends

Lee says the two biggest concerns of transfer students are time and cost.

“Time-to-degree completion is what students want to know,” he says. “How will credits transfer? How long until graduation? Is there a way to speed that up? What is it going to cost? A lot of transfer students don’t have the ability to simply live on campus. Most transfer students need more flexibility, either in the timing of classes or in the delivery method.”

The U.S. economy and industry-wide need for workers has influenced the trends and choices for college. Students weigh the immediate benefits of full-time employment against investing in an education that will offer a more lucrative career path. But even for students who start higher education immediately after high school, many more choose to begin at community college. 

UNCG is committed to removing barriers for prospective transfer students. “It’s on us to make transferring as affordable and as efficient as possible,” says Lee.

A representative for Recwell talks to a new student.

Apply to transfer to UNCG

Enrolling at UNCG means joining the Spartan Family. Get started below by learning more about UNCG, learning how credits transfer and how to apply, or connecting with a counselor.

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