July 11, 2024 -- Cleveland State University was recently recognized by Phi Theta Kappa, a national honor society for community college students, for being a transfer-friendly university.

The honor recognizes four-year institutions who strive to create dynamic pathways to support incoming transfer students. In 2022, the Transfer Center was relocated (and renamed Transfer Student Services) under the umbrella of recruitment in the Office of Admissions, helping to better align the transfer services CSU provides. Currently, two staff members work on advising and two work on recruitment.

“We work with students from two-year and four-year institutions who are looking to join the CSU family. Our advising team works to let the students know how their previously earned coursework will transfer over to CSU and what their path to graduation may look like,” said Assistant Director of Transfer Recruitment Amanda Zacur. “Our recruitment team is here to support the student through connecting them with our advising team, the application process and next steps once admitted to CSU.”

Zacur also noted that a transfer ambassador team is available on campus to help connect potential transfer students with current CSU students that have previously transferred to CSU and are familiar with the process.

“The transfer ambassadors are a great resource for our prospective students because they get the opportunity to hear from someone who has been in their shoes,” she said. “They are also someone will help them navigate all of their next steps.”

Although this is the first time in five years that CSU has officially received this honor, it has always been a transfer friendly destination thanks in great part to giving potential transfer students the highest level of service and guidance when making the move to CSU. That direct approach has enabled the university to have dedicated personnel just for transfer students, something other universities around the country are catching up to CSU with.

“Our Registrar’s Office does their best to take all regionally accredited credits a student has earned prior to attending CSU; and we can allow students to apply 90 credits earned at a two-year college toward their degree here at CSU,” said Zacur. “Our Honors College has two different ways for transfer students to gain entry into their college (Mandel Continuing Scholars and University Honors Program – Upper Division). And, overall, our different colleges really show support for transfer students by traveling to local community colleges to be present at transfer fairs, graduation festivals and allow for classroom presentations.”

The process is seamless for transfer students as the team, along with other members of the CSU community, work with local two-year colleges to establish pathways that can help students who start at the two-year institution earn their bachelor’s degree. To make things even easier, degree completion programs are available at Lakeland Community College and Lorain County Community College. CSU offers dual admission at all three local community colleges, enabling a student to take courses simultaneously at both institutions and have access to advisors at both institutions.

“CSU is a welcoming environment for transfer students and, in fact, over 30 percent of our total student enrollment are transfer students. In an average year, we welcome over 1,200 new transfer students to our campus,” said Zacur. “We have our tuition guarantee, which locks tuition rates in for students based on how many credits they transfer in. We also offer multi-term registration, which allows our students to plan their entire academic year at one time, so if you are working while in school, you can know what your class schedule is going to look like.”

If you are a student reading this and thinking of transferring to CSU, Zacur says the best thing to do is start planning early (though it is never too late). Make an appointment with one of our Transfer Student Services Advisors to find out how your credits should transfer to CSU and what you may still have left to earn.

“We also offer campus visits daily but on Friday, Nov. 3, the Office of Admissions is having our Discover CSU event, which is a specific event for transfer students.”

She added:

“If any questions arise, they can contact our Transfer Student Services team at 216-687-5568; our staff and faculty are dedicated to helping students be successful.”