Vassar’s Exploring Transfer Program Inspires Initiatives at Other Colleges

According to a recent study conducted by the College, Exploring Transfer (ET) has been spectacularly effective. While only about 17 percent of all community college students ever attain a four-year degree, more than 70 percent of those enrolled in Exploring Transfer have done so.

Armed with these findings, President Elizabeth Bradley and a team of faculty and administrators launched a campaign called Exploring Transfer Together to encourage other liberal arts colleges to consider creating ET-like programs of their own. That effort paid its first dividends this summer when administrators at Bryn Mawr College and Haverford College, both located in suburban Philadelphia, announced plans to host a joint program in the spring of 2025. The five-day session for 15 community college students will be held on both campuses and will be co-administered by Cheryl Horsey, Chief Enrollment Officer at Bryn Mawr, and Raquel Esteves-Joyce, Assistant Vice President for Student Diversity, Equity, and Access, at Haverford.

Wendy Maragh Taylor, Associate Dean of the College for Student Growth and Engagement and a leader of the Exploring Transfer Together team, said she was gratified with the news from the two liberal arts colleges. “I’m thrilled that Bryn Mawr and Haverford are moving forward on the ET pilot,” Maragh Taylor said. “Cheryl and Raquel have been incredible champions for this on their respective campuses, and they’ve brought together a team of people who are also committed and excited about the work.”

Dean Maragh Taylor said they were able to progress on the new project during a full-day focused retreat with Bryn Mawr and Haverford administrators on the Haverford campus in June,  building on the groundwork already laid over the last couple years. “Our retreat at Haverford with the team was inspiring—coaching and guiding them as they grappled with challenges and focused on opportunities,” she said. “After the various Exploring Transfer Together convenings on campus and virtual meetings with four-year institutions and community college partners over the last two years, I'm glad to offer our support as colleagues take action to support community college students in their community.

Both Horsey and Esteves-Joyce said their respective colleges had policies in place to encourage applications from community college students. “Part of our mission is to be accessible to under-represented student populations on our campus, so we were keen to look at (creating) a program like Exploring Transfer,” Horsey said. She added she was “sold” on such an initiative after attending an event on the Vassar campus last November where Vassar administrators explained the benefits of the program to representatives of about a dozen liberal arts colleges.

Esteves-Joyce said her discussions with Horsey and Dean Maragh Taylor had convinced her that Haverford and Bryn Mawr should consider launching an ET-like program. “Wendy and others on her team have truly offered us incredible support, taking the time to travel here. They shared blueprints of their program, not just the glossy parts but also the challenges they face, so we are able to create something that works for Bryn Mawr and Haverford.”

Horsey and Esteves-Joyce said the pilot program had the wholehearted support of their respective college presidents—Bryn Mawr President Kimberly Wright Cassidy and Haverford President Wendy E. Raymond.. Esteves-Joyce added that Thelathia “Nikki” Young, Haverford’s Vice President for Institutional Equity and Access, had secured funding “enabling us to move forward with this great work. I couldn’t have done this without her.”

Vassar’s support included funds from a grant the College received from the ECMC Foundation to promote the Exploring Transfer Together initiative. Charlotte Gullick, Interim Director of Exploring Transfer and ECMC Program Manager of Exploring Transfer Together, said she was excited to learn about the new ET-like program. “It’s great to see our work move to the next step in the commitment that has been made by these two schools and the community colleges who will work with them,” Gullick said.

Marianne Begemann, Dean of Strategic Planning and Academic Resources, who co-taught one of the courses at Vassar’s first ET session in 1986, said she had long appreciated the value of the program. “Eighty percent of community college students say they want to graduate from a four-year college but fewer than 20 percent actually do,” Begemann said. “As a nonprofit institution, Vassar should play an active role in contributing to the social good; and the College has been dedicated to doing so through this program.”