by Izzy Hall

Because of lower enrollment rates, transfer students can stand to benefit from colleges who are eager to hit their yearly enrollment goals. Schools with a smaller-than-average student body this year may be more receptive to accepting a greater number of transfer students than in previous years.

Deciding to transfer schools is a big decision, but one that can positively impact students who feel they ended up at the wrong college and those who completed their general education courses at a two-year college and are looking to complete their degree at a four-year institution. However, it can be hard to transfer into highly selective or popular institutions that attract a lot of students during regular admissions and reject a large percentage of applicants. Transfer students may work hard on a transfer application only to be rejected and have to start again at square one. But this year, some schools have had falling admissions rates and thus have more room in their classes to admit transfer students. 78% of colleges said they would “increase recruitment of transfer students” to recoup losses from students who deferred, abstained from re-enrolling or who rejected acceptances to attend a different college. That may include highly-selective dream schools that students weren’t accepted into during their original application period.

Just because a college is recruiting transfer students to meet enrollment (and tuition) goals doesn’t mean that transfer students should pay full price to attend the school. Many schools offer scholarships specifically for transfer students looking to make a switch to a new institution. If you are interested in transferring to a new school, be sure to research what aid they offer to transfer students and whether the aid is the same for transfers who start in the spring semester as it is for those who join up in the fall.

Did you know Scholarships.com has a special category just for scholarships for transfer students? Not only that, but we offer scholarship listings for special categories like First in Family, Study Abroad and Tall People. Be sure to update your scholarship profile with any applicable special criteria, and we’ll help you find even more specific scholarships that you can apply for and win.

Just because there are millions of college scholarships out there doesn’t mean you have time to go searching, and many won’t even match your profile. We’ve done the work and Scholarships.com is totally free. We have the search algorithms and scholarships database, saving you time in searching, finding and applying to thousands of dollars in college scholarships. Get instantly matched to scholarships that meet your unique talents, skillset and strengths, only those you qualify for. Access a complete list of college scholarships now by conducting a free college scholarship search at Scholarships.com.