SU receives grant to aid community college transfers
A $400,000 grant awarded to Syracuse University will allow prospective community college transfer students to preview their financial aid packages before committing to the university.
SU received the grant after a team headed by Don Saleh, vice president for enrollment management, and Eileen Strempel, assistant vice president for enrollment management, submitted a 15-page grant proposal to the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, Strempel said. The foundation, which provides academically promising, low-income students with grants and scholarships, chose SU from a field of higher education institutions from across the country, she said.
SU faced a ‘highly competitive’ process, as just six institutions were chosen when the grant was last awarded three years ago, Strempel said.
The grant will be used to hire a Transfer Transition Team consisting of a transfer specialist to offer guidance on general academic requirements, as well as a financial aid specialist to address concerns, Strempel said. Communication with the financial aid specialist will allow students to preview the financial aid they are estimated to receive before applying for admission to the university.
Students transferring from community colleges often find paying for tuition at SU difficult, even before the admissions process begins, Strempel said. By straying from traditional recruitment practices, the program, which is targeted at ‘high achieving, low- and lower- income students,’ will give students notice of their financial standing, barring any significant change in income, from the get-go, she said.
‘This is an amazing opportunity to touch and potentially transform the lives of hundreds of students,’ she said.
Strempel said she hopes the financial aid estimates will help increase the rate of student transfers from community colleges. SU has a high volume of students who choose to study abroad, which ‘creates a unique opportunity to bring new students to campus,’ she said.
Saleh, vice president for enrollment management and co-author of the grant proposal, said he hopes implementing the transfer team will increase the rate of student transfers by 25 to 30 students per year for the next three or four years. The grant is not renewable, though Saleh said institutional funds will be used to finance the transition teams once the grant expires.
Onondaga Community College and several other two-year institutions in upstate New York, including Monroe and Eerie community colleges, have been a focus of SU’s transition team, Saleh said. LaGuardia Community College in downstate New York, Miami Dade College in Florida, as well as a host of community colleges in California, have also been targeted by SU’s transition team.
Published on May 24, 2011 at 12:00 pm
Contact Debbie: dbtruong@syr.edu | @debbietruong
