Students Guided Toward Future at Transfer Fair
Colleges from near and far participated in the fair. Local schools included St. Rose, SUNY Albany, RPI, and Siena. Some of the farthest schools were Florida Institute of Technology, UC Berkeley, University of North Carolina Wilmington, and Grand Canyon University.
“We’ve actually had interest in here for awhile,” said Karen Austin, university development specialist in the College of Nursing and Healthcare Professions for Grand Canyon University. “[Most] traditional students students are brought here because of what we have with [online] programs but we have a surprising amount of students that actually come over [to Phoenix, Arizona].”
Grand Canyon University’s student population is about three times the size of Hudson Valley’s.
Some students used this opportunity to explore new colleges, while others used it to gain more information on the colleges they plan on attending.
Shane Walsh, environmental science major, had already been considering SUNY schools before coming to the fair. Walsh said, “They’re cheaper and easier to transfer to. I’m not throwing down $40,000.”
Of the SUNY schools, the Fashion Institute of Technology was the least expensive at $4,425 per semester while Maritime College was the most expensive at $5,870 per semester.
“It’s very informative,” Troy Burik, computer information sciences major, said about the fair. “I never looked at Morrisville [State College] before and this guy just walked up to me saying it was a tech-school and it seemed pretty affordable.”
Morrisville State College costs $20,524 per year for New York State residents and $30,174 for non-residents.
“It’s definitely helpful because all these colleges are in one place and you might possibly see where you’ll end up,” said Mickayla Inama, liberal arts major, who plans on transferring to UAlbany after the following semester.
Automotive Technology major Tom Berle believes Hudson Valley should provide bachelor’s degrees to compete with four-year institutions. “I want to get a better education than what [Hudson Valley] has provided me with,” said Berle.
“Some of the programs [at Hudson Valley] just leave you hanging and then you have to transfer. I feel as though we should have programs that guide you along the entire way,” Berle said.
During and after the Transfer Fair the Center for Counseling and Transfer attended to over 250 students.
“Anyone I went up to answered all of the questions I could ever even think of asking,” said Curran Fahey, engineering science major. “Its a great thing that they do here,” he said.