With a location in the heart of the city of Columbus, a compact campus and generous financial aid, Capital University draws students from all over the Columbus area, the state of Ohio, the country, and even the world.
The majority of students come to Capital as incoming first-years, but many come to Capital as transfer students. One of the biggest draws for transfer students is Capital’s nursing program.
“I had heard about the nursing program, how good it was,” sophomore Tarissa Heizman said. Heizman is from Pickerington, Ohio, and transferred between her freshman and sophomore years from Ohio University’s branch campus in Lancaster.
Attending OU-Lancaster straight from high school for financial reasons, she took nursing-specific classes and was drawn to Capital by the academics of the nursing program. Upon leaving OU-Lancaster, Heizman was set on Capital as her next school.
“When I visited my friend here … I fell in love with the campus,“ Heizman says, “… and I saved up enough to come here.”
When asked if she had plans to transfer again, Heizman restated that she was happy at Capital and assured the Chimes that she had no intentions of leaving.
Sophomore Curt Jepson has a very similar story. Originally from Upper Arlington, Ohio, Jepson spent his freshman year of college at Miami University in their pre-med program. Academics played a significant role in Jepson’s transfer as well.
He said that Miami does not have a major program for nursing. He spoke of an off-campus nursing course offered through Miami that is located in Hamilton, Ohio, but did not appear to have a very high opinion of it and remarked that it “actually isn’t that reputable” in comparison to other areas of study at Miami.
When he decided to leave Miami, Capital was one of four schools on Jepson’s mind. He said that, along with Capital, he considered Ohio State, Kent State, and Ohio University as options at which to begin a nursing path. All of these schools have commendable nursing programs, but Curt said that the advising and admission processes in respect to transferring put Capital above the rest.
“The one thing that … really sold me was the staff,” Jepson said. He went on to talk about the positive experience he had when transferring and mentions that his adviser was “able to really sit down with [him] and … make sure I had everything lined up.”
Jepson also highlighted the issue of credit transfer when switching schools and related that Capital was cooperative and helpful when this factor arose. Jepson says that, although it is only his first semester at Capital, he is getting more and more involved with campus organizations and says that he is “really happy with the choice [he has] made.”
Although nursing is a huge attraction for transfer students, other courses of study lure students as well.
Ellie Johns, a junior from Rocky River, Ohio, has transferred twice before landing at Capital. After spending her first year of school at the University of Rochester in New York, she spent her sophomore year Cleveland State University.
At Rochester, Johns majored in chemical engineering, and she was an undecided major at Cleveland State. She says that when she left Cleveland State, she was set on Capital. In addition to having friends that already attended Capital, Ellie stated that the academics would help with her new major.
“One of the big draws of Capital was the professional writing,” Johns said as she went on to explain how this program would help her professionally.
She went on to call Capital “perfect” for her needs. Although she is still fulfilling general education requirements, Johns feels she has found what she is looking for in a college.
Transfer students comprise a large part of Capital University. According to the university’s Fact Book from 2015, there were 424 transfer applications received. Nearly 200 of these were to natural science, nursing, and health-related programs.
Hopefully, these numbers keep climbing because, as national admission rates decline, transfer students are vital to the community and life of Capital.
