Freshman forgiveness should be extended to transfers
At USC, half of transfer students come from California community colleges. Transferring to a four-year university from a community college is becoming more and more popular these days, especially with rising tuition at higher education institutions. That said, many four-year universities pride themselves on being “transfer-friendly” institutions — USC especially.
The University boasts the Transfer Student Community to “enrich [the] academic, social and personal life of transfer students at USC.” This makes it easier to meet other transfer students to create a more welcoming and inclusive community on campus. Yet, transfer students are not extended a forgiveness policy like freshmen when they retake a class to improve a grade even though CCC transfer students are also first-time four-year university students. This policy needs to be revised to include them.
Aside from the social and environmental changes coming into a four-year, transfer students are often met with the expectation of immediate adjustment. Arguably, classes at a community college in comparison to a four-year may be less rigorous and demanding. Thus, the transition from the academic environment of a community college to that of USC can be hard and may cause transfer students to struggle with adjusting to class rigor and requirements. It can be enough to potentially cause a student to receive a failing grade during the first year of transitioning and readjusting. However, freshmen have more leverage here.
Freshmen may repeat a maximum of three courses taken during the first two semesters if they received a grade of D+ or lower. The first grade will be eliminated from the GPA — but still reflected on transcripts — and only the subsequent grade will be calculated into the GPA, even if it is lower. This policy, which is extended to spring admits, is not extended to transfer students, even though they are also first-time, four-year students.
It’s difficult to understand why Freshman Forgiveness, or a similar concept, isn’t an option for transfer students. According to the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, many other four-year universities already permit all undergraduate and some graduate students to have their low grades forgiven through a second chance. For this reason, the University too, must implement such policy for transfer students’ benefit.
Having the forgiveness open only to freshmen is discriminatory and unfair. This extension can benefit a large part of the transfer population at USC, which would make USC more of a “transfer-friendly” school than it claims to be now.
Transfer orientation and outreach programs are great, but they don’t account for the academic aid many transfer students may need. Adjusting is not always easy, but they shouldn’t prevent someone from being able to succeed in their college education. A failing grade on a transcript can create difficulties for those interested in pursuing graduate studies or obtaining internships. Many competitive programs require a minimum GPA to apply so a poor grade in a class or two can really deplete one’s overall GPA.
USC claims to be an inclusive school, and though in many ways it is, the transfer student population lacks equal opportunity. Freshmen are coming into a new environment, adjusting socially, emotionally and academically, and are given more aid to succeed through the forgiveness policy. Aren’t transfer students going through the same motions? They are faced with more pressure to not fail a class because there’s no going back from it. How is that inclusive? How is that fair?
USC is ranked as No. 22 national university in the 2020 edition of Best Colleges, but it can be better if community college transfers are allotted a second chance to succeed.