New Transfer Admission Guarantee for Community College Graduates

Students with the Concordia transfer beanie during Orientation Week

Concordia College has partnered with the Minnesota Private College Council (MPCC) to offer the Transfer Admission Guarantee to help ease the process for community college students looking to earn a bachelor’s degree.

Students who complete the free application process are now guaranteed admission to Concordia if they have earned their Associate of Arts degrees (A.A.), completed the Minnesota Transfer Curriculum (MnTC), and have a 2.75 cumulative GPA, provided there is capacity in their intended majors.   

“Graduates of our area community colleges contribute greatly to the life of Concordia, and we are excited to have a guaranteed admission program to assist them through the transfer process,” said Holly Sager, senior associate director of transfer recruitment.

Students also benefit from the A.A. transferring in as a block to meet general education requirements, as long as a 2.0 is achieved in each course. This means that all 60 credits earned for the A.A. count toward their bachelor’s degrees. Dr. Susan Larson, dean and provost of Concordia, said this helps prevents credit loss and removes some of the unknowns for transfer students.     

“That's what I think has been sometimes a difficulty for transfer students — ‘I just don't know what transfers, what counts, will I get accepted,’” Larson said. “And these decisions that we're implementing have been really designed to make it easier for students to understand what will happen to them when they transfer to Concordia.”

Eleven other private colleges in Minnesota are taking part in the Transfer Admission Guarantee program. Concordia is one of the colleges accepting associate degrees from outside of Minnesota.   

As part of a transfer initiative, Concordia has also worked with the MPCC to establish a pathway for psychology students to earn their bachelor’s degrees. The pathway helps community college students see how their coursework will be received and show them what else they’ll need to take to earn their bachelor’s degree. Work is now underway on biology pathways with plans for additional majors in the future.  

“Some of our two-year transfers are our best students,” Larson said. “They see a lot of similarities between the kinds of things we value in our education and what we see at two-year colleges, such as small class sizes, individual advising, and close contact with professors.”

The transfer initiative is supported by funds from the Teagle Foundation and the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations. 

Learn more about the Transfer Admission Guarantee and being a Concordia transfer student.

Interested students can tour Concordia on Be A Cobber Day Friday, Nov. 11. Register now.