College Cited for Hosting Effective Pathways for Transfer Students
The international honor society, Phi Theta Kappa, selected Wilmington College to its 2021 Honor Roll featuring America's top four-year colleges and universities for creating programs and pathways that are especially effective for transfer students.
This marks the fourth consecutive year WC received this honor, which distinguishes the top 25 percent of the nation's colleges that earned the highest "transfer friendliness ratings." The College is among six institutions in Ohio to garner this year's honor.
Heather Miller, assistant director of admission, said Phi Theta Kappa's continuing recognition of WC's commitment to serving its transfer students at the highest levels is especially gratifying.
"We strive to make the transfer process as seamless as possible for our students," she said. "Establishing a personal connection to our transfer students is the key component to our 'transfer friendliness.'"
Dennis Kelly, senior vice president/chief enrollment officer, praised Miller's leadership of the collaborative efforts across the College resulting in the program's success in building and maintaining external partnerships with a growing number of two-year institutions.
"Consistently being selected to the Honor Roll speaks directly to a reported high level of satisfaction that transfer students experience from the admission process through graduation at Wilmington College," he said.
Phi Theta Kappa lauded the College’s “excellence and success” in providing a program of accommodating transfer students from two-year institutions. It evaluated such areas as scholarships and financial aid, admission outreach, student support services and student engagement opportunities.
One of those especially unique elements is the College’s Transfer Advantage, which recognizes general education courses that associate degree recipients have taken at regionally accredited two-year schools, as satisfying WC’s graduation requirements. This is essentially unprecedented for a private institution in Ohio.
As such, the College re-shaped its general education requirements so many community college graduates can continue their pursuit for a bachelor’s degree at WC with the expectation of needing only two more years of studies. Also, the College features a transfer-friendly transcript evaluation program and a website designed to answer most questions and concerns of transfer students.
Miller said the College “greatly values” the education its transfer students have received at two-year institutions and is uniquely set up to provide this student population with a high-quality experience.
Phi Theta Kappa is the premier honor society recognizing the academic achievement of students at associate degree-granting colleges and helping them to grow as scholars and leaders. The Society is made up of more than 3.5 million members and nearly 1,300 chapters in 11 nations, with approximately 240,000 active members in the nation’s colleges.
