MISSION COLLEGE : Transfer Students Face Obstacles

Growing financial burdens and class cuts are narrowing the choices of many community college students hoping to transfer to four-year universities, according to students and college officials participating in this week’s transfer fair at Mission College.

While Cal State Northridge, Woodbury University, UCLA and USC competed for the attention of transfer students with flashy brochures, many students at the fair appeared to be looking more for an affordable education.

“Getting in isn’t the problem. It’s being able to afford it,” said Joanne Kalter-Flink, Mission’s transfer coordinator. She said many students want to leave Los Angeles for an area where the cost of living is lower. “I have more students that want to transfer than ever. There is no truly affordable education for continuing students for a bachelor’s degree.”

Mission sophomore Matt Mowry, 20, said that his greatest concern is whether or not he’s going to get the classes he needs at the university he chooses.

“You hear every day it’s tough to get classes at CSUN,” said Mowry, a kinesiology major. “That’s what’s making me think of going out of state.”

CSUN outreach counselor Louise Ford said the publicity about class cutbacks is affecting hopeful CSUN transfer students. But she said the university is doing better than some reports indicate.

For example, she said, many potential students do not know that spring enrollment has been reopened through Dec. 1 to transfer students with declared majors.

Sometimes a student’s trouble with transferring is self-inflicted, officials said. For example, students wanting to enroll at nationally recognized schools like USC may be blocked by their own self-doubt, one USC official said.

“A lot of students, especially students of color, say, ‘There’s no way I can go here.’ We almost have to go through a desensitization program,” said Shelly McCoy, USC’s assistant director of undergraduate admissions.

In fact, McCoy said that enrollment of African-American students at USC has remained steady at about 8%, while Latino student enrollment is up to 12%.

For other students, the concern is not financial burden, self-doubt or class cuts. It’s making sure that all their classes transfer to their new university, preventing any setbacks in the dash for a degree.

For freshman Aurelia Cruz, this concern involves her whole family as she strives to transfer to USC for a degree in education.

“Nobody in our family has ever graduated from college,” said Cruz, at 17 the youngest of five children. “I think the only hard part is taking care of my classes. As long as I can stick with it and do a good job, I can do it.”