Elite Universities

Education

A new effort to increase the number of community college students transferring to some of America’s most elite colleges and universities was launched today, focused in particular on increasing enrollment by students from lower-income backgrounds and communities of color.

Michael T. Nietzel, Senior Contributor, Nov 10, 2022, 05:00am EST. “I am a former university president who writes about higher education.”

The Transfer Scholars Network (TSN), an initiative managed by the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program and supported by the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, brings together several high-profile community colleges and some of the nation’s most selective four-year colleges in an attempt to open a new pipeline for transfer students.

The TSN began as pilot in January, 2021 between 14 universities in the American Talent Initiative (ATI) and eight prominent community colleges. (The ATI consists of more than 130 highly ranked colleges and universities committed to enrolling, supporting, and graduating more than 50,000 talented students from lower-income backgrounds by 2025.)

The four-year partners

Amherst College, Bowdoin College, Cornell University, Johns Hopkins University, MIT, Mount Holyoke College, Pomona College, Princeton University, Rice University, Spelman College, Smith College, Swarthmore College, Williams College, and Yale University.

The eight community college partners

Broward College, Community College of Baltimore County, Holyoke Community College, Indian River State College, LaGuardia Community College, Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, Northern Virginia Community College, and San Jacinto College.

How it works

The basic TSN strategy involves connecting high-achieving community college students with senior admissions representatives at the selective colleges and universities and then following up those connections with a commitment to provide participating students with exclusive support.