(L-R) Noemi Perez, Avonne Lindemann and Audria Pittman are board members of Tau Sigma, the national honor society for transfer students. Photo courtesy of Aleksandra Trifonova.

A recent survey by U.S. News & World Report ranked California State University, Northridge second nationally in attracting transfer students. With a transfer acceptance rate of 57.3 percent and 5,835 new transfer students enrolled in 2014, CSUN has been drawing a diverse community of national and international students.

“We have transfer students from all over the world and all over the United States,” said Juana Valdivia, interim director of student outreach and recruitment. “People know we have outstanding programs in departments like business or music, which belong [among] the top programs in the nation.”

Recently established academic standards for all California State University campuses raised the GPA requirements for students applying from outside the immediate local community. For new freshmen, this initiative took effect in fall 2015, and the academic criteria for transfer students will take effect in fall 2016. The new GPA criteria vary, depending on an applicant’s chosen major.

“We will see a drop in transfer rates. Not a huge drop, but it will be interesting to see how it’s going to look in three to five years,” Valdivia said. “We still hope to remain an accessible campus and provide for our students, but it will definitely become more competitive.”

Transfer students from the Los Angeles community district won’t be affected by the raised academic standards, which means that CSUN will remain open to students from the local community.

Valdivia said that the affordability of the CSU system is another major reason why students choose CSUN, which provides more than 70 percent of students with financial aid and scholarship funds. But it’s not only CSUN’s reputable departments and financial aid opportunities that attract transfer students.

Creative Writing and Honors English double major Avonne Lindemann from Chicago transferred to CSUN in fall 2015. After considering several CSUs, Lindemann chose CSUN because of its broad variety of organizations represented on campus.

“CSUN was the only college which had a Tau Sigma chapter,” she said. “Joining Tau Sigma was very important for me, because it gave me a better sense of belonging — not only on a new campus, but in a new city where I didn’t know anyone.”

Tau Sigma is a national honor society for transfer students, established in 1999 at Auburn University. With more than 100 chapters in the U.S., the organization provides a social support network to transfer students.

“Tau Sigma gave me the opportunity to be involved in a group outside of the classroom, and get to know other transfer students with a similar drive to succeed academically,” said Lindemann, who serves as the CSUN chapter’s president.

“I am definitely happy with my decision [to come to CSUN],” Lindemann said. “My favorite part about CSUN is the faculty. I’m so lucky to have professors that not only go above and beyond to help me succeed, but are extremely talented in their own right.”

Community, CSUN, Student Outreach & Recruitment, Tau Sigma, Transfers