Students can transfer from community colleges to a four year college or vice versa. People also transfer when they already have degrees, so transferring to different colleges is very common. 

Over the last couple of seasons in both college football and other NCAA sports, the use of the transfer portal has blown up tremendously. The transfer portal permits student athletes to place their name in an online database declaring their desire to transfer to another school. 

A reason for this is because of athletes finally getting name, image and likeness– also known as NIL deals. Athletes are finally getting paid for their likeness and because of their skillset.

Another reason for athletes transferring is because they want to get more playing time. They might be tired of being the second or third string player and not getting an opportunity to showcase their skills. 

The same thing can be said for students not playing sports for the school. A reason that non-athletes might want to transfer could be homesickness, not liking the environment or not being ready for college life.

College athletes are allowed more transfer opportunities because they bring popularity to the school and it helps with recruiting. When student athletes transfer, it takes a minimum of 48 hours for a coach to contact them with a scholarship or a spot on the roster, according to the College Football Network.

Unlike college athletes, for regular students wanting to transfer colleges, it takes up to six to eight weeks for that decision to be reached, according to Quora, a platform that offers expertise on a wide variety of topics.

According to an article posted on EdSource, an educational website, “a 2021 study found, only 2.5% actually do [transfer] in two years or less and 23% in four years or less. EdSource also conducted a survey of current and former students, which revealed that over half had difficulties with the transfer process.” 

As someone who attended Fresno State University, a CSU, and wanted to transfer to another college, the process was long and unfortunately I didn’t come out on top. The reason I couldn’t transfer from Fresno State to Sacramento State is because I was short on credits.

I was short on credits, but just like athletes, according to HonestGame, a website to help navigate the transferring process, “transfer student-athletes must meet specific and nuanced academic eligibility rules if they want to compete at their new school.”

In accord with BestColleges, an educational platform, “a transfer credit represents a course successfully completed at one institution that learners can apply to another school. Transfer credits allow students to switch schools, maintain their academic status and complete their degrees without redoing previous courses. Typically, a school reviews transcripts to determine which credits are transferable.”

I had between 51 and 53 credits but to be eligible to transfer I needed 60 credits. According to Sac State’s transfer policy, applicants must have at least 60 transferable college semester units or 90 quarter units, a minimum of a 2.0 GPA and other requirements to meet the criteria. 

 My path to Sac State is on hold because I am attending ARC. But just like college athletes, I believe non- student athletes should have the same benefits of transferring in a timely fashion.