College Transfer comes in many forms and is basically the movement of students from one institution to another with some level of coursework completed. Traditionally, college transfer is the assessment and acceptance of students with prior learning credentials demonstrated by coursework grades or exams. The movement of academic course credits from one college to another is usually a manual process requesting transcripts and the petition for credit.

College Transfer is also a term that covers institutional support services including the academic, enrollment and advising required to help steer students through the complexity of changing institutions or programs of study and to help them understand the impact on requirements for degree completion.

What type of transfer student are you? We have identified nine classifications (nicknames really) as a means to clarify the different processes and patterns impacting academic credit portability. You can belong to more than one classification. Each type of college transfer persona can use the tools and information on CollegeTransfer.Net in a slightly different way.

• Bankers take course work across institutions and are focused on gaining expertise.
• Switchers move laterally across four-year institutions.
• Finders seek a course or two to satisfy their degree requirements at their home institution.
• Changers seek a new career and change of major.
• Movers tend to change college as they move around for job or country.
• Traders follow Transfer Agreements, saving money along the way.
• Explorers start programs of study and rarely finish because they are in search of what interests them.
• Jumpers test out of college level courses by exam.
• Climbers scale course requirements with work and life experience.

All forms of College Transfer share a common process called the "petition for credit." Institutions will call this the "course articulation process" or "claims of prior learning." It is usually handled by enrollment management staff, including the academic registrar who holds the official college or university records. When you are contemplating enrolling in a college and you have attended a prior college, you will generally be considered a transfer student. Transfer student enrollment follows a different path than traditional enrollments or first time college students. Admission Applications are usually different or require a Supplemental Application, since the transfer student is asked slightly different questions pertaining to why you want to transfer to the institution. Transfer students can overcome poor SAT or ACT scores and high school grades by demonstrating college level achievement through attending a community college and getting good grades.

Check out the CollegeTransfer.Net Glossary to get familiar with the lingo everyone in academia uses.

You can do it. Finish your College Degree faster by following proven Side Door Strategies we itemize for you. Use CollegeTransfer.Net's self-assessment tools, including the Student Passport, to compile your academic history and to find your best transfer college or university ranked by how many course credits they will accept.