Transfer 101 Workshop and Comprehensive Study Guide

Introduction to the Transfer 101 Workshop

• The Transfer 101 workshop is organized by the City Colleges of Chicago to assist students in transitioning from the community college to their next institution.

• The primary objective for the advising team and transfer specialists is to help students transfer from their "original dream school" (City Colleges) to their "new dream school" (four-year institutions).

• The Transfer Center team at Harold Washington College includes:

  • Ellen Goldberg: Director of the Transfer Center. She attended Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. She notably studied abroad in Madrid, Spain, during her junior year.

  • Christina Carrillo: Transfer Specialist at Harold Washington College. She attended her dream school, Northern Illinois University (NIU) in DeKalb, Illinois.

  • Jason Ortiz: College Adviser and member of the transfer team. He attended DePaul University for his undergraduate degree.

  • Ian Liston: College Adviser and member of the transfer team. He attended Columbia College in Columbia, Missouri (a small school in a town of $35,000$ students).

  • Cindy Kokuma: College Adviser and member of the transfer team. She attended Northern Illinois University, where she studied History and Education.

Career Research via the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)

• The Bureau of Labor Statistics website provides a method to "reverse engineer" the transfer process by looking up professions to determine the necessary academic credentials.

• Accounting Profession Snapshot:

  • Median Pay: Approximately $82,000$ per year ($40\,per\,hour$).

  • Typical Entry-level Education: Bachelor's degree.

  • Job Outlook ($2024$–$2034$): Growing $5\%$ faster than the average for all occupations.

  • Projected Employment Change: Approximately $72,000$ new accounting jobs in the next ten years.

• Academic Requirements for Accountants:

  • A standard Bachelor's degree requires $120\,credit\,hours$.

  • To become a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and sit for the Board of Accountancy exam, an additional $30\,credit\,hours$ are required, totaling $150\,credit\,hours$.

  • Harold Washington College offers a CPA prep program to help students earn these additional credits.

• Employment Sectors for Accountants:

  • Accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping, and payroll services: $23\%$.

  • Government: $8\%$.

  • Finance and insurance: $8\%$.

  • Management of companies and enterprises: $6\%$.

  • Self-employed workers: $5\%$.

Institutional Research via CollegeBoard Big Future

• The CollegeBoard Big Future website features a database of over $4,000$ schools.

• Search and Filter Process Example (Accounting in Illinois):

  • Initial database: $4,298$ schools.

  • Filtered by Major (Accounting and Finance): $1,500$ schools.

  • Filtered by Location (Illinois) and distance from Harold Washington College: $22\,schools$.

  • Filtered by Type (Four-year institution): $13\,schools$.

• University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) Institutional Data:

  • Type: Four-year, public, large campus in an urban setting.

  • Admission Rate: Approximately $77\%$.

  • Academics: Over $172\,majors$ offered.

  • Student-to-Faculty Ratio: $17:1$.

  • Retention Rate: $80\%$.

  • Costs ($In-state$): Approximately $11,000\,per\,year$ tuition.

  • Costs ($Out-of-state$): Approximately $27,000\,per\,year$ tuition.

  • Financial Aid: $68\%$ of students receive aid; the average aid package is $19,000$.

Transfer Resources and Articulation Guides

• Transfer Guides: These documents outline specific coursework required by four-year institutions to ensure credits from City Colleges of Chicago transfer and apply toward a specific major.

  • Example: Engineering at UIC requires specific sequences in Calculus I, II, III, Differential Equations, and Physics.

  • Students are encouraged to take high-level math and science courses at City Colleges due to smaller class sizes (e.g., $18\,students$) compared to large university lecture halls (e.g., $275\,students$).

• Transferology: A nation-wide web tool containing over $400\,schools$ that allows students to see how their specific completed courses match the requirements of their dream schools.

  • Example: Anthropology majors at UIC are required to complete four levels of a foreign language.

• Brightspace Transfer Portal: A dedicated online space for City Colleges students containing:

  • The Transfer 101 and 201 workshops.

  • Scholarship search engines.

  • Links to Transfer Alumni Mentors who have transitioned to schools like Northwestern, DePaul, and Elmhurst.

Academic Partnerships and Guaranteed Admission

• Transfer Partnerships: Formal agreements with institutions that often provide guaranteed admission and small tuition discounts (e.g., $2,000\,discount$ for DePaul) if the student completes their Associate degree with a specific GPA.

• Guaranteed Admission at UIC (TAG): A program for students intending to transfer to UIC.

  • Students should select their "Intended UIC Entry Term" based on when they will finish their Associate degree (e.g., Fall $2026$, Fall $2027$).

  • Applicants must maintain the minimum GPA required by their specific college within the university (e.g., Business or Engineering).

• Diverse Partners: Partnerships exist with public and private schools, as well as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) like Morehouse College.

Scholarship Opportunities for Transfer Students

• Jack Kent Cooke Scholarship: The largest scholarship in the United States for community college students. It provides up to $55,000\,per\,year$ for three years and often covers the full cost of graduate school.

• The Point Foundation: A scholarship specifically for LGBTQ+ students or allies who are active in the community.

• Obama-Chesky Voyager Scholarship: A partnership between Barack Obama and Brian Chesky (founder of Airbnb). It provides $25,000\,per\,year$ plus a $2,500\,per\,year$ stipend for $10\,years$ of Airbnb travel for research.

• Phi Theta Kappa (PTK): The international honor society for community college students. Membership requires a $3.25\,GPA$. Many universities offer automatic scholarships for PTK members.

• Institutional Scholarships: These are merit-based awards given by the transferring institution upon acceptance (e.g., DePaul awarding $16,000$ based on grades).

Financial Aid and Need-Based Programs

• AIM High Grant Program: A state-funded program in Illinois where public universities (like UIUC or Northeastern Illinois University) provide grant funding to students based on FAFSA data.

  • Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU): Offers full tuition coverage for students whose families make less than $75,000\,per\,year$ with at least a $2.0\,GPA$.

• UIC Aspire Grant: Provides full tuition coverage for Illinois residents (citizens or eligible undocumented students) with a family income less than $75,000\,per\,year$.

  • Critical Requirement: The FAFSA must be submitted by March 15.

• Private Institutional Grants:

  • Roosevelt University: Full tuition for family incomes less than $50,000$ and a $2.5\,GPA$.

  • St. Xavier University: Full tuition for family incomes less than $80,000$ and a $3.0\,GPA$.

• CSS Profile: A detailed financial aid form (on the College Board website) used by private and elite institutions (including Ivy League schools) to determine a family’s true financial need by looking at mortgages, medical bills, and other expenses not captured by the FAFSA.

Transfer Logistics: Transcripts, Applications, and Fees

• Official Transcripts:

  • Ordered through the Student Portal via Parchment.

  • Cost: $5\,per\,digital\,copy$.

  • Students must submit official transcripts from every college ever attended, not just the most recent.

  • Institutions use the National Clearinghouse to verify a student's entire enrollment history.

• Application Fees and Waivers:

  • UIC: $70\,fee$. The waiver is built into the application.

  • University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC): $75\,fee$. Students must submit the application and then request a waiver through the Transfer Center.

  • Free Applications: Many schools like DePaul, Roosevelt, and Columbia College are free for City Colleges students.

• High School Transcripts: These are generally not required once a student has earned $24\,college-level\,credit\,hours$, though prestige/Ivy League schools may still request them.

Alumni Success Stories

• Dorel Crosby: A non-traditional student who initially struggled at a previous school. He earned a $4.0\,GPA$ at City Colleges, worked as a STEM tutor, and transferred to Yale University on a full-ride scholarship. He now works on staff at Yale.

• Nancy Barrera: A Chicago Public Schools (Gwendolyn Brooks College Prep) graduate and STAR Scholar. She won the Jack Kent Cooke scholarship and transferred to Northwestern University with $0$ out-of-pocket costs. She is currently working in law advocacy in Los Angeles.

• Marne Estoa: A non-traditional student who previously earned a GED. While at City Colleges, they served as the Student Government Association President. They won the Dream US scholarship and the Obama-Chesky Voyager scholarship, transferring to UIC with a combined financial package that covered all tuition and living expenses.

Questions & Discussion

• Impact of Previous Institutions: If a student attended a previous school and performed poorly (e.g., a $1.5\,GPA$), that GPA will be averaged with the City Colleges GPA by the four-year institution. Students are encouraged to use the Writing Center to craft "bounce back" stories in their personal statements to explain past performance.

• FAFSA Deadlines: Students were repeatedly warned to file their FAFSA as early as possible, specifically before the March 15 deadline to remain eligible for state and institutional grants.

• Transfer Leadership Class: Harold Washington College offers a free, non-credit Transfer Leadership Class that meets once a week for a deep dive into transfer strategies and networking with alumni.