This fall, Swarthmore’s cohort of incoming transfer students includes the largest number of former community college attendees in the college’s history. Composing twelve of the 24 transfers for the current academic year, students who transferred from community colleges make up 50% of the new additions to the classes of ’28 and ’29.
The growing number aligns with a pattern of increased community college transfers to Swarthmore in recent years, the result of an intentional effort by the Admissions and Aid Department to cultivate diversity among transfer cohorts.
In an email correspondence with The Phoenix, Vice President and Dean of Admissions Jim Bock ’90 and Associate Dean of Academic Success Liz Derickson ’01 clarified that the uptick in community college transfers is because of a revision to the criteria for admitting applicants from such institutions.
“The college’s transfer student admissions policy has not changed,” Bock wrote, “but the idea to increase community college student presence was lifted up as one of the goals of Swarthmore Forward as we continue to grow an inclusive community.”
The Swarthmore Forward strategic plan is an initiative to enact sweeping changes to campus institutions, policies, and curricula. The roadmap was officially unveiled in early 2024, following an eighteen-month review process by the college’s Board of Managers.
The Swarthmore Forward outline references community college transfer students in a section titled “Create a Community Prepared for Life in a Multiracial, Multicultural Democracy and the World.” This section also describes expanded investment in student-staff solidarity efforts and programs benefitting marginalized communities in the Swarthmore area.
The plan establishes a directive to “[a]dmit an annual cohort of up to 20-25 transfer students from community colleges while maintaining the current size of the student body [and] provide appropriate resources so these students receive the academic and social support they need to thrive.”
Since Swarthmore Forward’s initial announcement, Bock and Derickson added, the college’s target yield for community college transfers has increased substantially from year to year. In fact, during both of the two admissions cycles following the implementation of the strategic plan, actual community college transfer yield has exceeded target numbers. For 2025, the target yield for community college students was five and the actual yield was six; for 2026, the target yield was ten and the actual yield was twelve.
These increases are largely the product of expanded outreach on the part of the Admissions and Aid department. Bock and Derickson emphasized that Swarthmore representatives have visited an annual average of twelve to fifteen community colleges in recent years, a notable figure in comparison with the three to four yearly visits between 2016 and 2019.
The college has also partnered with the Transfer Scholars Network, a service that pairs high-performing students at community colleges with elite four-year schools that offer substantial financial aid.
As for resources for the new students, Bock and Derickson noted that “all admitted transfer students get a transfer credit evaluation with the offer of admissions, and all have a designated student dean in the Division of Student Affairs.” Like all Swarthmore students, admitted transfers gain access to financial aid, a cash free campus, the TAP program, and SEPTA Key Passes.
These resources have been available to transfer students in previous years; as of now, the only new support added since Swarthmore Forward’s announcement is an expansion of orientation programming to include activities devoted to transfer students. All transfer students — from community colleges and four-year institutions alike — moved onto campus one day prior to first-years in order to attend social and informational events.
Transfer Student Reflects
Maria Victoria “Toya” Almarza ’28 said she’s glad to be a part of this year’s Swarthmore transfer cohort. Before arriving at Swarthmore as a junior this fall, Almarza attended Miami Dade College, a community college in Miami, Florida.
She didn’t learn about Swarthmore through a campus visit and wasn’t initially aware of increased outreach toward community college students. “My professor … was helping me select the transfer schools I should apply to and suggested Swarthmore,” she said. “The moment I opened up the website … Swarthmore looked like my dream school.”
For the most part, Almarza feels integrated into the Swarthmore community. She’s involved in several campus groups, and says she’s made many more friends outside of the transfer group than she’d expected. Still, she wishes that the college had done more to welcome her cohort to campus.
“[Transfer orientation] sessions should be about adjusting to a new academic environment where grades aren’t as big of a focus and academics are much more challenging … Many of us are used to being star students in community college. Some sessions helping us adapt to the fact that now we’re just one more in a sea of incredibly bright and passionate students would be appreciated.”
While the college continues to host events for new transfer students throughout the academic year, the activities focus on group bonding rather than academic support. Transfer student group meals take place in the Dining Community Commons on a regular basis, and Swarthmore President Val Smith will host a dinner for the cohort at the Courtney Smith House later this semester.
Almarza’s only other regret is that she doesn’t have more time at the college. “I feel some grief because I love Swarthmore so much,” she said. “I wish I had more than two years. Even just an extra semester would make it so much better.”
Bock and Derickson acknowledged that this issue is a particular source of trouble for community college transfer students.
“Most community college students tend to enter as juniors and have a shorter tenure at Swarthmore,” they wrote to The Phoenix. “Most will apply to four-year institutions after earning their associate’s degree. Few community college students apply after only a year, which means they have less time to squeeze in all of the opportunities that Swarthmore or another institution may provide.”
Swarthmore will continue to raise its target yield for community college transfer students in coming years, according to the Swarthmore Forward strategic plan.
