ETSU has seen a minor drop in the number of transfer students within the past few years.
ETSU had 1,253 new transfer students join the university in fall of 2011.
“In fall of 2012, we had 1,189 and it was a drop, but that’s pretty close,” said Ramona Williams, vice provost for enrollment services and management at ETSU. “In fall of 2013, we had 1,132. So, we had a drop, and this fall, we had 1,057. So, you can see we have had a slight drop in the number of transfer students.”
Williams said the reason ETSU experienced a drop is the same reason the university experienced a drop in freshmen enrollment.
“If you think about a transfer student, and you think about someone that starts at a community college or wherever, they might go there two years,” Williams said. “But say they’re an 18 year old, so we know there were fewer babies’ born 18 years ago, so there were fewer high school seniors, so your pool to draw from for transfer students is smaller too.”
Williams also said some students may decide to stay where they were, get a job or graduate.
“Just like a freshman, [transfer students] come from all across the state, all across the country,” Williams said. “Some come from community colleges, some come from universities, so they’re coming from all over the place.”
According to Williams and the ETSU fact book, Northeast State had 223 students transfer to ETSU and Walters State had 151 students transfer to ETSU in fall 2014.
“The places we get most of our transfer students from are Northeast State Community College and Walters State Community College,” Williams said.
Williams said ETSU has been doing some recruiting to help better the university’s numbers in those areas, plus offering more cohort programs.
“We visit community colleges and college fairs,” Williams said. “We try to improve our websites so it makes things easier for students who are trying to transfer, making easier for them to understand what they need to do.”
Northeast States rates have stayed within 223 and 268 transfer students to ETSU since fall of 2010.
If a university offers a new program, as well a cohort, then another university can join the program, and the universities have the same programs but in different locations.
“People will drive to Pellissippi State Community College, even though they get the degree from ETSU, so like a cohort you might get more students from one year to the next,” Williams said.
According to the ETSU fact book, students transfer from Middle Tennessee State University, Tusculum College and University of Tennessee at Knoxville.
However, ETSU gets more students transferring from UT Knoxville than other colleges or universities in Tennessee.
“Being in the enrollment business, you always want your numbers up,” Williams said.
