OCTOBER 20-24, 2025
National Transfer Student Week (NTSW) is a nationwide initiative organized by the National Institute for the Study of Transfer Students (NISTS). Each year, during the third week in October, NTSW aims to
- Celebrate the transfer student experience and the professionals who support them
- Enhance institutional support for transfer students
Join us in recognizing and celebrating the contributions and successes of our transfer students & their champions at UW–Madison.
Ways to Get Involved
Transfer Students
- Attend transfer student events
- Submit an act of kindness and recognize a transfer student or a transfer champion
- Show your transfer pride & share your story using #UWTransfer
Student Allies
- Submit an act of kindness and recognize a transfer student or a transfer champion
- Challenge the issues facing transfer students on our campus
Faculty & Staff
- Submit an act of kindness and recognize a transfer student or a transfer champion
- Review the “Guide to Working With Transfer Students”
- Share the
NTSW toolkitswith your networks
Submit Transfer Acts of Kindness
Kindness is contagious – which is why we ask that you share an act of kindness during National Transfer Student Week.
Recognize transfer students or anyone who goes above and beyond to support them- aka, transfer champions.
Submission is simple.
- First, think of someone awesome.
- Second, fill out a suuuuper simple survey.
- Third, that’s it. We’ll take it from there.
P.S. know someone awesome, but not sure what to say? We get it. Reflection can be hard when midterms never end. But don’t worry, we’ll pass along some kindness on your behalf. If you want, we’ll even let you take credit, just include your name.
Highlight Transfer Students & Champions
Campaign Toolkits
2025 UW Toolkit
2025 NISTS Toolkit
Included:
- Instagram static posts with suggested captions
- Instagram story carousels
- Website, Facebook, and newsletter banners
- Zoom backgrounds
- Event fliers
Use #UWTransfer to engage with us online
Blog & Newsletter Examples
Defining Your Own Badger Identity: Miguel Pingol, Transfer and Student Veteran
Whether you’re in a lecture hall, library, or coffee shop, odds are: You have a transfer student in your midst. In fact, one in five UW–Madison students have transferred to our university. However, this identity is often tricky to spot.
Angeline Peterson Recognized for Transfer Acts of Kindness
“Whether Angeline has known about my being a transfer student or not, I wanted to recognize her as being an outstanding and supportive TA/Instructor..."
Morgridge Center Celebrates National Transfer Student Week with Lauren Hoffarth
The Morgridge Center would like to especially highlight one of our Operations Intern, Lauren Hoffarth. Hoffarth is a junior double majoring in gender and women studies and political science with a certificate in global health.
Learn about UW-Transfer Experiences
Compared to “traditional” first-year students, UW–Madison’s transfer student population consists of more:
- Low-income college students
- First-generation college students
- Returning adult and non-traditional students
- International students
- Student-veterans
- Student-parents
Transfer students’ diverse range of experiences, knowledge, language, culture, critical thought, and ways of being enrich classroom learning and campus culture at UW–Madion.
Transfer Invisibility
Promote transfer student awareness to bring to light & clear the obstacles of transfer students and their multiple, marginalized identities
DYK: 15-20% (4,000-4,500) of UW–Madison students are transfers?
In other words, 1-in-5 of your fellow Badgers are UW Transfers!
Transfer Stigma
Faculty and staff might assume that transfer students are less academically competitive than students who have not transferred. Challenge these assumptions in your own views and others’.
Myth: It's easier to get into UW–Madison as a transfer student.
In fact, admission rates for transfers and freshman are nearly identical, with it being slightly more difficult for UW Transfers (49% vs. 53%).
“Transfer Shock”
While well-meaning, the concept of “transfer shock” can also perpetuate the idea that transfer students are less academically inclined than first-year students (despite studies showing similar performance levels amongst the groups).
DYK: Graduation rates are nearly identical.
On average, 86% of UW Transfers and 89% of students admitted as first-year students graduate from UW–Madison.