Posted: April 30, 2015 | Written by Laura Tapia

For the first time in four years the Transfer Center of Riverside City College gave students the opportunity to visit university campuses at no cost.

The trip which began April 13 allowed students to visit eight different campuses in a span of four days.

According to Kheesa Slaughter, the center’s educational adviser, forty students signed up for the trip and some students were also recruited by the Transfer Center due to their participation in guidance courses and special programs like Ujima and Pathways.

Among the colleges visited was San Diego State, Cal State Fullerton, and Claremont Mckenna.

Students were handed out surveys  by the Transfer Center on their way back to campus to see how beneficial the tours were, according to Zachary Wilson, the Transfer Club president.

“The survey asked if visiting the campuses changed my mind or opened my mind to attending one of them, and my response was yes, had I not got this chance I wouldn’t be applying to one of these colleges in the next year,” Wilson said.

Planning for this trip began late January, when Vice President of Student Services Ed Bush granted the Transfer Center financial resources from student equity funds to host this event.

In total the Transfer Center spent about $7,000 on this trip, and plans to continue these types of trips are something the center wants to continue, according to Delgadillo.

Although the Transfer Center tends to go unnoticed because it is located inside the counseling and admissions building and tucked away to the right, it makes itself known by sending out mass emails, hosting events like campus tours, transfer fairs and various workshops throughout the year.

The Transfer Center hosted their biannual transfer fair on April 27, where 29 college representatives were in attendance.

The center plans to host a transfer ceremony on May 22 for students transferring this spring.