New Study: An Innovative Approach to Transfer Advising
- Feb 24
- 2 min read
Updated: Feb 25
Academic advising is mission-critical for students navigating the tricky transfer from a community college to a four-year university.
A new study in The Mentor makes a compelling case for rethinking how we support those students.
In “A New Transfer Advising Model to Promote Increased Student Transfer Success,” researchers Sarah Wieland and Audrey Amrein-Beardsley investigate an advising strategy designed to increase the success of underserved transfer students.
The traditional model hands students off between advising teams as they shift institutions, but this study tested something different: a two-plus-two advising model where students kept the same advisor before and after transfer.
What they found is striking
Students whose advisors stayed constant through both institutions were significantly more likely to:
Persist in and through the transfer process
Report higher satisfaction with their advising experience
Build what the authors call transfer student capital: the knowledge, confidence, and strategic awareness needed to successfully acclimate to the new campus environment.
One standout finding comes from student feedback: “Having the same advisor across institutions made me feel seen, understood, and prepared for the challenges ahead.” This quote highlights a core idea of the study, that transfer advising isn’t just administrative, it’s relational. (Related Reading: The Silent Dropout Risk That's Hard to Spot)
The value of this research is two-fold.
First, it points toward an evidence-based practice for boosting transfer success, which is a notoriously stubborn sore spot in higher education.
Second, it reframes advising as a continuous journey rather than a series of disconnected checkpoints.
For practitioners and institutions eager to improve outcomes, this model offers both inspiration and data. (Related Reading: The Part of Sense of Belonging Nobody Talks About)
If you work with transfer students, whether in advising, administration, or program design, this article is worth checking out.
