ROCK ISLAND, ILLINOIS (February 3, 2020) — Augustana College further strengthens its commitment to transfer students by earning the Illinois Articulation Initiative (IAI) "receiving status." Augustana's participation in this agreement with other colleges and universities in Illinois highlights that transferring is a smooth process.
IAI is a statewide transfer agreement, which helps make it easier for Illinois undergrads to transfer from one college or university in Illinois to another.
"Participation in the IAI serves as an important symbol to transfer students — in Chicagoland, here in the Quad Cities, and across the entire state — that Augie wholeheartedly welcomes those with an Associate's Degree," says Bonnie Jessee, associate director of admissions and transfer enrollment.
"With dozens of two-year public institutions designated with export status, Augustana is in a strong position to help someone with an Associate's Degree earn their Bachelor's on time and on budget," explains W Kent Barnds, executive vice president at Augustana.
Jessee says, "For instance, if a high-school student in this region wants to attend Black Hawk College or Carl Sandburg College for two years and earn their associates, this gives them assurance transfering to Augustana will go smoothly.”
"The transfer students who typically pick Augustana tend to be smart, hard-working, and budget-conscious,” continues Barnds. “They like the idea of saving money by attending a community college and living at home for a couple of years, and then they couple that with Augustana's generous scholarship packages. It can be a low-cost path to a prestigious degree.”
Augustana's renewed commitment to transfer students is partially prompted by the college's move from a trimester calendar to a semester calendar. This change in the academic calendar makes transferring to Augustana even easier. Jessee adds, "Our new academic calendar better aligns with the semester calendar many colleges utilize."
Augustana plans to significantly increase the number of transfer students in the next two years, with goals for 20 additional transfers in fall 2020, going from 40 to 60, and from 8 to 20 in spring 2021. The growth in transfer recruitment is intended to coincide with growth from the addition of new majors in kinesiology and data analytics, along with the addition of women’s varsity water polo.
