Centering Transfer and Nontraditional Student Experiences

Overview

Who are our nontraditional and transfer students?

Nontraditional students hold valuable life experiences that go beyond the typical college years, while transfer students arrive with academic credits from other institutions, eager to finish their degrees at UC Berkeley. When these diverse pathways converge at UC Berkeley, they enrich our community with unique experiences that differ from those of first-year entrant students.

Non-traditional & transfer students at UC Berkeley 

UCOP considers nontraditional students to be those aged 25 and olderwho mayattend part-time, show increased independence from parents,potentially work full-time whileenrolled, may have dependents and/or be singleparents, and possess a variety of other factorsthat can impact their ability to access, engage with, orcomplete university-level coursework andactivities in the typical manner associated withtraditional students living in or nearcampus housing or other independent accommodations

Transfer students are typically those who started their bachelor's degree at another institute of higher education, oftentimes a community college, and hope to complete it at a four-year university. Annually, approximately 19,000 students from high schools across the United States apply to enter UC Berkeley as first-year entrants, with only 12-16% gaining acceptance. However, transferring to UC Berkeley offers a second opportunity for those who missed the chance to attend directly following their high school career. Around 95% of accepted transfer students come from California community colleges, and UC Berkeley admits between 4,000 and 5,300 transfer applicants each year.

Teaching Strategies and Recommendations

Starting Point for Growth: Self-Reflection & Awareness 

A powerful framework for teaching transfer and nontraditional students is grounded in aligning instruction with Universal Design for Learning (UDL). The UDL frameworksupportsinstructors in creating adaptablelearning experiences that proactively promote access to the diverseneeds of students. UDL prioritizes student agency in learning by teaching with multiple ways to represent information, take action in learning, expressthemselves,and engage. Using UDL as our lens, instructors can consider and mitigate the barriers that non-traditional and transfer students often face in their undergraduate careers. 

Explore three categories - situational, institutional, and dispositional barriers - to enhance your self-reflection as an instructor and increase your awareness of the challenges non-traditional and transfer students may encounter.

Situational Barriers

What is it? Many students balance complex life responsibilities, including taking care of dependents, extended family, or full-time work outside of school, requiring flexibility and understanding in course policies and deadlines. Oftentimes, non-traditional and transfer students have intersectional identities that are intrinsically linked to the ways they successfully navigate university spaces.


What action can you take? Consider disability justice-related instructional interventions to support your inclusive instructional goals. Set aside time to examine areas of bias we may be holding related to students with disabilities and take seriously their perspectives and experiences at UC Berkeley. To guide your learning, listen to Finding Space, a podcast supported in part by CTL to tell disability stories of students, faculty, and staff. 
Institutional Barriers

What is it? Systemic inequities, such as inflexible class schedules, inadequate support, and underresourced academic advising, impact whether a student feels a sense of belonging on campus and their academic success.

What action can you take? Learn from personal stories overcoming the many policies and procedures that disadvantage certain student groups and reflect on the institutional barriers documented by our own campus leaders. A suggested activity using a “systems thinking iceberg” is an impactful way for instructors to unpack institutional barriers that they want to understand better. 

Dispositional Barriers

What is it? Awareness of dispositional barriers means understanding how past negative educational experiences or self-doubt can impact learning, allowing instructors to provide appropriate encouragement and support


What action can you take? Reflect on student feedback by utilizing tools such as classroom observations or mid-semester inquiries provided by CTL to understand dispositional barriers that may be affecting students in your courses. 

Teaching Strategies 

There are likely many shared needs when making instructional choices that can better support non-traditional and transfer students. To ensure these student groups thrive, UC Berkeley offers a welcoming orientation program designed to meet their unique needs. Additionally, campus advising services commonly address specific questions and academic development planning unique to their pathway. It is essential to recognize that these services, while not directly tied to teaching and learning, play a vital role in helping these students navigate their degree plans and thrive at UC Berkeley.

At the CTL, we recommend that instructors plan ahead for the success of non-traditional and transfer students in the courses by considering the teaching strategies below.

Before Instruction

  • Validate students' identities and background experiences. Affirming students’ lived experiences as legitimate sources of knowledge, sometimes referred to as “funds of knowledge,” strengthens their sense of belonging in academic spaces. For example, Austin et al. (2023) unpack student stories using a humanistic teaching lens. One story comes from a student who had to rebuild her identity as a writer due to negative feedback she had received about her writing from an instructor. This story cautions that student feedback, which may feel “clear and direct to the instructor,” can land in an entirely different way for a student breaking down their academic identity in unintended ways. 

  • Address the hidden curriculum. Make implicit academic and cultural expectations explicit to help students navigate unwritten rules and customs they may not have previously learned. UC Berkeley professor and director and co-founder of the Biology Scholars Program (BSP) John Matsui explains that BSP goes beyond offering academic support; it serves as a space where students can find mentorship that recognizes their identities. Matsui (2024) emphasized that good mentoring is about more than just technical knowledge–it’s about teaching students how to navigate the “hidden curriculum,” (p.6).  

During Instruction

  • Celebrate when students overcome challenges. This practice helps students internalize a growth mindset while recognizing their determination and adaptability. Instructors can use think-aloud exercises to engage students in their backgrounds and educational experiences, promoting this resilient mindset. Additionally, the negative impacts of too much challenge without enough support can lead to student frustration and disengagement (Sanford, 1966, Challenge and Support Theory).

  • Adopt trauma-informed pedagogical strategies to create a supportive learning environment that recognizes and responds to students' experiences with sensitivity and care. Leveraging arts-based instructional practices can promote radical healing and emotional support that go beyond merely acknowledging external challenges. Explore other instances of joy-centered pedagogies to find an approach that fits your disciplinary context, teaching approach, and student needs.

  • Incorporate storytelling and diverse voices from your discipline. This practice affords students the chance to see themselves in the content you are teaching, while building confidence in their own potential as a contributor to the field. The Berkeley International Office publishes a weekly student-led publication called We Are Cal, which contains stories of international students and faculty at UC Berkeley. A resource outside of UC Berkeley, The Counterstory Pedagogy, Student letters of resilience, healing, and resistance (Aldana, 2025) explores students' first-person narratives through letter writing, helping us understand how to better value their identities and background experiences.

After Instruction

  • Encourage continued peer support following the end of your course. Recall that non-traditional and transfer students, being newer to the educational community, may have a limited peer network and set of relationships established at UC Berkeley. You can facilitate the exchange of student contact information on the last day of class or continued engagement via bCourses discussion boards so that students can stay in touch throughout their undergraduate careers.

  • Reflect on how you can strengthen groupwork opportunities in the next iteration of your course. A two-part podcast from Rush University’s CTEI (part I,part II) provides some suggestions and considerations when forming and supporting small group work in higher education.

  • Connect students with campus resource units and normalize help-seeking behaviors to build a supportive academic culture that promotes student success beyond the classroom. The Student Learning Center has a wide range of programs to support students at UC Berkeley. 

  • Revisit the formative assessment assignments from your course to reflect on students’ learning process and gain a better understanding of the instructional strategies that enhanced (or hindered) students’ learning.

Teaching Resources

Resources & Non-traditional Student Stories

Non-traditional Student Voices

Centers for Educational Equity and Excellence (CE3) 

  • Supports non-traditional students, including first-generation, low-income, and underrepresented students

  • Includes the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) and the Undocumented Student Program (USP)

Re-entry Student Program

  • Offers counseling to help students achieve their goals and plan for academic success

  • Provides scholarships for re-entry students

  • Offers a study space and weekly meetings

Other offices that may support non-traditional students include:

Resources & Transfer Student Stories

Transfer Student Voices

Overarching groups and programs for UC Berkeley transfer students:

  • First-Generation Trailblazers: Incoming transfer students are twice as likely to be the first in their family to earn a college degree, with 44% proudly breaking new ground, compared to 22% of new freshmen.

  • Independence and Resilience: Transfer students often embody independence, with many managing their educational pursuits without family financial support. 

  • Diverse Paths and Backgrounds: Our transfer students encompass military veterans, parents, and re-entry students, each bringing their unique life experiences and perspectives. They represent the diverse tapestry of life journeys that converge at UC Berkeley, enhancing the depth and breadth of our intellectual discourse.

  • Champions of Diversity: Transfer students are more likely to be members of historically underrepresented groups in higher education, accounting for 27% of our transfer population compared to 18% of students who entered as freshmen. This demonstrates their role as champions of diversity and inclusion, actively contributing to the diversification of our academic community.

  • The Anchor House, a beautiful residential facility with over 750 beds is dedicated to transfer students at UC Berkeley. 

  • Additional resources for transfer students: Transfer Student Center, Re-entry Student Program, Student Parent Center, Cal Veteran Services Center, and Starting Point Mentorship Program