The Hidden Cost of Transferring Schools

The transfer portal has glorified transfer opportunities, but is it always the right choice?

College is a great investment. As the Frugal Athlete himself once told me, college is considered a “good debt” because the potential return on investment is much higher than the initial cost.

I agree entirely, but I think it’s also fair to acknowledge that the initial cost can be steep. Not only that, tuition and fees seem to be rising by the semester, with no signs of slowing down.

Scholarships, grants, and financial aid are all invaluable resources when determining how to finance a college degree, but there is one more factor that can make a huge difference in your total college cost.

Retention.

Simply staying where you are or transferring “up” from a community college to a four-year university are incredibly effective ways to prevent your college bill from skyrocketing. This can be one of the easiest ways to save money in your college journey, but it almost always requires a proactive approach. 

With the introduction of the transfer portal in 2018, college athletes have become incredibly susceptible to transfer-related expenses. Athletes who are transferring for a particular athletic scholarship can soften the blow, but a transfer ALWAYS comes with a cost.

Sometimes the cost is well worth the change, and sometimes it isn’t. Understanding those common expenses can help student-athletes determine whether a transfer is worth the hassle, at least from a financial standpoint.

We’re going to explore some of the most common costs associated with transferring colleges so that you know exactly what to look for if a college transfer is in your future. 

Moving Costs

The most obvious cost is moving cities. Early in their career, college students generally have to move back and forth between a college town and home, but as time goes on that moving cost increases. This is due, in large part, to how most college dwellings operate.

There is frequently a rush to acquire housing early in the fall semester for the following year, and students have to put down a deposit or sign a lease well before they actually move into the new apartment or dorm. If you stay at your original college, no problem whatsoever. 

If you decide to transfer schools, now you’re stuck in a housing contract you can’t honor. The two most popular options are to pay the lease-break fee – usually the equivalent of three months’ rent – or find someone to take over the lease. Either way, you’re paying some kind of fee to get out of that contract.

Class Credit

The next most common cost bites a lot harder than standard moving costs.

Each college has its own set of classes required to earn a degree from their university, and no two schools are the same. While it’s unlikely all of your classes will get rejected, it’s just as unlikely that they will all be accepted.

The easiest way to transfer credits is between two public institutions in the same state. The hardest is transferring from public to private. It is at the discretion of the school to either accept or deny any classes and where to slot them in your degree plan.

Many schools will accept a large number of class credits, but place them in “elective” zones which can only account for a small portion of your overall degree. In many cases, this has the same financial implications as if they were rejected entirely. 

On average, students lose about 12 credit hours for every full year they’ve been at a previous school. In addition, only 60 credit hours can be transferred to a school in order to earn a degree from the new school. Therefore, if you transfer as a junior, you are going to lose a year of classes minimum. If we use Texas as an example, the cost per credit hour can range from $280 to $774.

That means for just one lost class, you can see a loss of roughly $840 – $2,322.

Pro Tip – Find your state’s Common Course Numbering system to compare classes between public institutions. You can line up classes you’re actively taking – or looking to take – and see what it will count towards at a different school. It’s a great way to prep for a transfer if you know you’re leaving before classes are selected.

Delayed Career Start

A fallout result from lost classes is more time in school.

As nice as it might seem to live in college forever, the delay in graduation causes a ripple effect that delays your professional career as well. While sports may be on the mind of every college athlete, professional experience will be important whether you play professionally or not.

If you’re behind on classes then it will put you behind on starting your career as well. While it may not be a direct cost in college, it will certainly have an impact on your overall earning potential.

Financial Aid Changes – Athletic scholarship vs freshman merit vs transfer merit, etc.

One of the more “afterthought” expenses is financial aid. Those who didn’t originally qualify for financial aid most likely won’t notice a difference, but those who had any kind of aid from an institution must now completely re-roll the dice at their new college.

Not only does this create a potential for a dramatic change in standard financial aid, but transfer scholarships tend to be much smaller than freshman scholarships as well.

Many schools want to focus on recruiting and retaining freshmen for four full years, so transfer student budgets are frequently addressed in a secondary fashion. This can have an impact on how much of a loan withdrawal you need to pull per semester, ultimately adjusting your final loan bill at the end of your college career.

Social/Team Struggles

This cost is not financial, but emotional.

For some, the reason for transferring stems from social or team struggles. For others, the loss of a team is simply a byproduct of needing to transfer schools.

Either way, the shift to a new team and new players can create a feeling of anxiety. You’re joining a team that has already played together and trying to find a fit within the new roster. While you won’t feel this cost in your wallet, it can still affect your day-to-day college experience.

Not all of these costs will apply to every transfer, and costs can vary from city to city or person to person.

That said, it’s impossible to avoid many of the costs listed above, and they should be considered when exploring a change of school. Today, roughly 35% of student-athletes either quit their sport or transfer schools before their junior year. The average cost to transfer schools, taking into consideration the average scholarships awarded, is roughly $15,000 per transfer. 

By exploring best-fit schools during your high school years, many transfer decisions can be mitigated or eliminated entirely. It’s natural to be captured by large scholarships, prominent teams, or flashy campus visits, but no level of athletic satisfaction can completely outweigh the rest of your college experience.

It’s important to find a place that satisfies you academically, athletically, personally, and financially when deciding where to attend college, and it might just save you some serious cash too!