College Orientation for First-Year and Transfer Student Success

Each autumn, millions of new students enter colleges and universities across the country. Orientation is a key opportunity for institutions to introduce and integrate new students into campus life, foster class and institutional identity, and prepare them for academic success. While most new students are first-years, a significant portion are transfer students with prior college experience. During orientation, transfer students occupy a unique position—not yet integrated into their new community, yet often grouped with first-years despite their previous experience. Designing effective orientation programming for both groups is challenging but crucial. Orientation is arguably the most important factor in the social and academic integration of new students. The goal of my research was to understand how transfer students and first-years experience orientation differently and to outline how orientation can best support all new students. How can transfer students be best served during this critical transition?