The MU Office of Admissions and Summer Welcome team greeted incoming transfer students today. Director of Admissions Barbara Rupp says over the past couple years the total number of transfer students at MU has started to decline. Rupp believes students are more place-bound than they used to be due to the economy.
“The large markets for transfer students are in St. Louis and Kansas City and there are large metropolitan community colleges in both of those cities and so we think some of those students are choosing to stay in those metropolitan areas, perhaps living at home, rather than living here,” Rupp said.
MU recently invested in new computer software to help ease the transfer process. MU also created a transfer coordinator to recruit students from community colleges and to work directly with transfer students.
Today’s “transfer day” is MU’s annual effort to greet the students before they begin classes in the fall. The Summer Welcome team taught transfer students about involvement opportunities, Mizzou traditions, and academic information throughout the day.
The group will begin to welcome incoming freshmen students to MU on Monday.