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Chico State

Money Magazine Recognizes CSU, Chico as One of Nation’s Top Colleges for Transfer Students

Dozens of eager transfer students attend an event solely for transfer students.
Jason Halley / University Photographer

Transfer students gather information at Wildcat TransferMation, which provides an opportunity to meet other incoming transfer students, current Chico State students, and University staff on Friday, August 24, 2018 in Chico, Calif. (Jason Halley/University Photographer/CSU Chico)

College students who transfer from a two-year college to a four-year institution can often face a unique set of challenges. California State University, Chico is well-equipped to help navigate this transition and recently has been recognized for its efforts.

The University was ranked No. 32 on Money magazine’s list of “Best Colleges for Transfer Students” out of 727 American universities.

Kim Guanzon, from the University’s Office of Admissions, said her team works in a variety of ways to help smooth a student’s transition from a two-year college to CSU, Chico.

“In addition to an exceptionally friendly and easily accessible staff, we have transfer-specific student orientation and housing, and we hold annual welcome events to highlight available services, as well as provide an opportunity to meet other transfer students,” Guanzon said. “All of this combines to help the student achieve a top-notch and affordable education.”

A total of 1,517 students transferred to CSU, Chico for the fall 2018 semester. Aside from California, they arrived from nine different states (including Oregon, Arizona, Alabama, Alaska, and Florida) and 11 different countries (like Japan, Kuwait and Brazil). And hundreds of transfer students attend the Office of Admissions’ annual Wildcat TransferMation, a fun and casual open house that brings transfer students together to learn more about the University.

For its rankings, Money pulled data from a number of sources, including the U.S. Department of Education, Paterson’s, PayScale.com, and Money/College Measures calculations. Read more on Money magazine’s methodology here.

Other CSU schools that appear in Money magazine’s top 30 were CSU, Channel Islands (No. 4); CSU, Long Beach (No. 5); San Diego State (No. 9); Sonoma State (No. 12); CSU, Fullerton (No. 13); CSU, Northridge (No. 15); San Francisco State (No. 18); CSU, East Bay (No. 21); San Jose State (No. 22); Cal Poly Pomona (No. 25); Stanislaus State (No. 26); CSU, San Marcos (No. 27).

CSU, Chico is no stranger to recognition from Money magazine. Over the last year, the University has appeared prominently on a pair of the publication’s rankings, including its “50 Best Public Colleges” and “Best Colleges For Your Money 2018.”In addition to Money magazine’s rankings, U.S. News & World Report recently named CSU, Chico on its list of best schools for online bachelor’s programs at No. 217. Released Jan. 15, the list ranked online bachelor’s and graduate programs across the nation based on their student engagement, student services and technology, and faculty credentials and training.