College is expensive. There’s no doubt about that. However, it doesn’t mean that you can’t afford to go to college. With a college transfer program, you can double major and minor in subjects of your choosing and lower your overall tuition cost. The savings may come in handy as you’ll likely graduate with less debt than you otherwise would have. To illustrate this point further, here are the top 10 schools with the best financial aid for transfer students.
Over 45 million students transfer from a two-year college to a four-year institution in America. The appeal of a good financial aid package, smaller class sizes and better name recognition drives many of these students to transfer. If you are considering a college transfer, it is helpful to understand the financial aid available and how it works. Here are the 10 colleges with the best financial aid for transfer students.
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Best Colleges that Accept Transfer Students
Transferring from one college to another isn’t always easy. Most schools have different transfer requirements, and you need to figure out which credits will apply to the degree program you want to pursue. Yet a good school for a transfer student may be surprisingly challenging to find. After all, many schools that seem perfect for non-transfer students won’t have the classes or resources that a transfer student needs, while schools that target transfer students may not offer the quality of education you’re looking for. The article below provides information about Colleges With Best Financial Aid For Transfer Students.
Dependent Vs Independent students
Single, undergraduate students under the age of 24 are generally considered “dependent” students for purposes of financial aid. If you don’t meet the technical definition of “independent” student, but you have been living on your own and are self-supporting, let the school know. The school might change your status to “independent” for institutional aid purposes, in which case only your own (generally) more limited resources are assessed when calculating your eligibility for aid.
If you’ve been working full time and expect to take a large pay cut to return to school, let the school know that as well. They may be able to adjust the income figures you reported on your FAFSA.
Help from your employer
Many companies help pay for their employees’ education. If you are a working student, find out if your employer offers a tuition reimbursement program. Be sure to find out how long you need to stay with your current company if you take advantage of its program, whether you need to maintain a specific GPA, and other details.
Help from your home state
Contact your home state’s higher education agency to see if you qualify for any special programs. For example, the state of Virginia has authorized a Two-Year College Transfer Grant, which awards up to $2,000 per year (for up to three years) to state residents who have completed their associate degrees at a Virginia two-year public institution and are enrolled in a Virginia four-year school (public or private).
A FEW colleges and universities help students avoid crippling debt by offering generous financial aid packages.
Here are the ten best colleges and universities to transfer to based on transfer and acceptance rates. We’re going to indulge in why they should be the college you transfer to. Information about why they are a good school and their application process will be provided.
Saint Louis University
Saint Louis University stands out as one of the best transfer schools as it offers a transfer-focused orientation, TRANSFERmation, featuring social events and mentorship from former transfer students. Their program is designed to help new students make a seamless transition to life at SLU. There is also a class that helps transfer students during their first semester on campus.
Clemson University
Clemson offers a transfer-focused housing community, where transfer students live together and receive academic support. Additionally, a transfer council represents the transfer student voice in student government, and the school hosts a special web portal to keep students informed during the transfer process.
University of California – Los Angeles (UCLA)
UCLA offers a joint volunteer project during its orientation for transfer and first-year students which makes it one of the best transfer colleges in California. Students build a rapport while working together to support the child life program at UCLA’s affiliated hospital. Following orientation, students maintain their connection to each other and the university through participation in the Bruin Transfer Camp.
University of Michigan
This school emphasizes a one-on-one approach in its support of transfer students. Newly accepted transfer students are encouraged to enroll in Transfer Connections – paired with specially trained current students, transfers learn directly about all U of M has to offer. The transfer student office also publishes a monthly newsletter.
American University
Transfer students at American are paired with current students, and these pairs connect to support various non-profits in Washington, DC. Following orientation ‘Welcome Week’, the campus offers weekly sessions designed to support transfers, as well as an honors society for academically successful transfers.
University at Buffalo
The university’s Educational Opportunity Program is open to qualified transfer students, helping them find support and comfort. The campus also supports peer mentoring and a transfer-only honor society.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The flagship campus of the North Carolina system, UNC offers extensive support to students making the transition from community colleges. The Carolina Student Transfer Excellence Program (C-STEP) identifies academically talented students from 2-year colleges and supports them on both campuses. The school also helps qualified C-STEP students graduate with low or zero student loan debt. Transfer students can go online to determine which of their current credits will transfer before they decide to apply.
The University of Utah
New members of the Utes family can trade in t-shirts and other materials from their old schools and receive University of Utah t-shirts on Transfer Tuesdays! As the year progresses, transfer students who attend the weekly meetings learn about campus resources, scholarships, and other important issues.
Portland State University
PSU hosts a virtual home for transfer students leading them through every part of the admissions and registration processes. Students can use the online center to gain information about each step of the transfer process; they can also apply and live chat with representatives. An online degree audit program called uSelect allows students to get information about PSU degree programs and transfer credits before enrolling.
New York University (NYU)
Transfer students at NYU can anticipate unique challenges as they transition to both the school and New York City. The campus hosts a Student Resource Center, through which transfer students can join their own Facebook group, request a mentor, participate in a student-run transfer student association, and join a dedicated listserv to receive a weekly newsletter.
Admission to the best schools for transfer students: College transfer acceptance rates in 2022
Here are the rankings and transfer acceptance rates of the schools above.
| School | Location | Transfer acceptance rate | Number of transfer students admitted in 2021 |
| Saint Louis University | Missouri | 2.3% | 299 |
| Clemson University | South Carolina | 5.9% | 1,529 |
| UCLA | California | 7.4% | 3,284 |
| University of Michigan | Michigan | 2.7% | 1,278 |
| American University | Washington D.C | 1.5% | 212 |
| University of Buffalo | New York | 5.5% | 1,742 |
| University of North Carolina | North Carolina | 2.9% | 846 |
| The University of Utah | Utah | 4.4% | 1,446 |
| Portland State University | Oregon | 11.8% | 2,988 |
| NYU | New York | 1.8% | 960 |
what colleges accept the most transfer students
Last year’s college graduates who borrowed loans to pay for their education had an average total student loan debt of nearly $30,000, according to data reported to U.S. News in an annual survey. For that reason, college affordability is a top concern among many prospective students.
Schools like Harvard University in Massachusetts and Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania offer no-loan financial aid policies to reduce students’ debt loads. These no-loan institutions typically remove student loans from financial aid packages and only feature grants, scholarships, work-study aid and other components.[
“No-loan schools are basically telling students of modest or even extremely low income that they should apply if they have the grades and extracurricular (activities) to be considered and that they don’t have to worry about the high price tag as long as they are able to get accepted,” says Kevin Ladd, chief operating officer and co-creator of Scholarships.com, and a former U.S. News contributor.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean the cost of attendance at these schools is zero dollars. Most no-loan colleges aim to cover each family’s demonstrated financial need – the difference between the cost of attendance and the expected family contribution, referred to as EFC.
The amount of need-based aid that a school offers is usually determined by the information a family provides on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, called the FAFSA, and sometimes the College Board’s CSS Profile, a separate financial aid application that about 200 undergraduate institutions require. Nearly every school that meets financial need for all admitted students without federal student loans uses the CSS Profile.[
Schools use financial information, such as income, tax data, assets and household size, on these forms to calculate an EFC. While the federal government has a formula for calculating EFC, institutions have their own methodology when it comes to forking over their financial aid award dollars.
“All of these schools determine the family need calculations a little differently and really don’t disclose how they compute such need,” says John Goodhue, an attorney and founder of Asset Protect One Inc., a Colorado-based investment advisory firm.
Under an EFC calculation, a school may determine that a family can afford to pay $10,000 a year, for example, toward the cost of attendance. However, that household may only be able to manage $5,000 annually with their current income and financial obligations. This is known as a financial aid gap. Even at a no-loans institution, some families and students may still need to borrow money to cover college costs.
At Princeton University in New Jersey, which implemented a no-loans financial aid policy in 2001, U.S. News data shows that the average student who borrowed loans and graduated from the Ivy League school in 2018 took on $9,059 in debt. But only 17% of graduating students borrowed loans to pay for school. That’s substantially less than the average percent of 2018 graduates from all ranked schools who borrowed for college at 65%, according to U.S. News data.
full tuition scholarships for international transfer students
Only 11 schools among ranked National Universities and National Liberal Arts Colleges reported meeting full financial need for each admitted student with a no-loans policy, according to data submitted by 895 ranked institutions in an annual survey to U.S. News. There are other schools that limit grant-only aid awards to students from lower- or moderate-income households. Williams College in Massachusetts, for instance, limits its no-loans financial aid award packages to admitted students who come from families that earn $75,000 or less per year.
Below are the ranked National Universities and National Liberal Arts Colleges that claim to meet full financial need while packaging aid awards with no loans for each admitted student.
| SCHOOL NAME (STATE) | U.S. NEWS RANK AND CATEGORY | |
|---|---|---|
| Amherst College (MA) | 2, National Liberal Arts Colleges | |
| Bowdoin College (ME) | 6, National Liberal Arts Colleges | |
| Brown University (RI) | 14, National Universities | |
| Columbia University (NY) | 3 (tie), National Universities | |
| Davidson College (NC) | 17 (tie), National Liberal Arts Colleges | |
| Harvard University (MA) | 2, National Universities | |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 3 (tie), National Universities | |
| Pomona College (CA) | 5, National Liberal Arts Colleges | |
| Princeton University (NJ) | 1, National Universities | |
| Stanford University (CA) | 6 (tie), National Universities | |
| Swarthmore College (PA) | 3 (tie), National Liberal Arts Colleges |
10 schools with best financial aid for international students
These schools offered international students an average financial aid package of $68,569 in 2019-2020, per U.S. News data.
College is expensive, but international students studying in the U.S. often face tuition price tags much steeper than those paid by U.S. students.
International students accounted for 5.5% of the total U.S. higher education population in the 2018-2019 academic year, according to the latest data available from the Institute of International Education, but they provide a significantly higher proportion of many institutions’ tuition revenue. In that same year, international students contributed nearly $41 billion to the U.S. economy, according to NAFSA: Association of International Educators.
And unlike their U.S. counterparts, international students are often not eligible for the financial aid that can help bring down college costs. To qualify for federal student aid, for example, students must be U.S. citizens or eligible noncitizens, such as lawful permanent residents.
However, some colleges offer institutional aid to international students.
In an annual U.S. News survey, among the 461 ranked colleges that reported providing at least 50 international students aid during the 2019-2020 school year, the average amount was $23,410.
Some schools are even more generous: Among the 10 universities that offered international students the most financial aid, the average amount was $68,569. Columbia University in New York awarded the highest average amount of aid in 2019-2020, providing nearly 300 international students with an average of $71,069. Columbia is also the most expensive private school in the country, with tuition and fees at $64,380 for the 2020-2021 school year.
All of the colleges making this top 10 list are private institutions. They are located primarily on the East Coast, in states like New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut.
Many of these institutions are also ranked in the top 10 among National Universities, schools that are often research-oriented and offer bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees, and among National Liberal Arts Colleges, which emphasize undergraduate education and award half or more of their degrees across liberal arts fields.
Harvard University in Massachusetts, for example, is ranked No. 2 among National Universities and provided an average of $66,805 in aid to international students in 2019-2020. Williams College, also in Massachusetts, is ranked No. 1 among National Liberal Arts Colleges and provided an average of $68,456 in aid to international students that same year.
While Arizona State University—Tempe, a public school, did not make this list, it provided the largest number of international students with aid among all ranked colleges that provided U.S. News with this information. In 2019-2020, ASU awarded 2,803 international students an average of $4,737 in financial aid.
Below are the 10 schools that gave the most in financial aid to at least 50 international students during the 2019-2020 school year. Unranked schools, which did not meet certain criteria required by U.S. News to be numerically ranked, were not considered for this report.
| SCHOOL NAME (STATE) | NUMBER OF INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS WHO RECEIVED AID DURING 2019-2020 | AVERAGE AID AWARDED TO INTERNATIONAL UNDERGRADUATES DURING 2019-2020 | U.S. NEWS RANK AND CATEGORY | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Columbia University (NY) | 299 | $71,069 | 3, National Universities | |||
| Skidmore College (NY) | 96 | $70,250 | 36 (tie), National Liberal Arts Colleges | |||
| Amherst College (MA) | 133 | $69,434 | 2, National Liberal Arts Colleges | |||
| Dartmouth College (NH) | 261 | $68,998 | 13, National Universities | |||
| Williams College (MA) | 108 | $68,456 | 1, National Liberal Arts Colleges | |||
| Duke University (NC) | 211 | $68,044 | 12, National Universities | |||
| Stanford University (CA) | 245 | $68,000 | 6 (tie), National Universities | |||
| Wesleyan University (CT) | 95 | $67,468 | 20 (tie), National Liberal Arts Colleges | |||
| Swarthmore College (PA) | 67 | $67,165 | 3, National Liberal Arts Colleges | |||
| Harvard University (MA) | 605 | $66,805 | 2, National Universities |
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