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Finlandia University students look to future

HANCOCK — When higher-education institutions close, fewer than half of students continue their schooling somewhere else, according to a National Student Clearinghouse and State Higher Education Executive Officers Association study released last year.

Finlandia University is hoping to best those numbers — both through agreements with other universities, and through opportunities such as Monday’s Student Teach-Out and Transfer Fair.

More than 25 colleges and universities came to Monday’s event, said Anthony Schwass, dean of enrollment at Finlandia.

“Making sure that students have a next available home for a higher education institution is something that we really wanted to focus on from the very beginning … so we got everybody together, got them face to face with our students, so they can talk about those options,” he said.

Five universities have finalized teachout agreements with Finlandia, which could grow to seven, Schwass said. The agreements guarantee students can transfer all of their Finlandia credits to the new university, while paying the same or less as they would have at Finlandia.

Some universities with other transfer agreements will match some accepting credits and even financial aid, Schwass said.

Most institutions at Monday’s event were from the upper Midwest, though some came from as far away as Nebraska, Schwass said.

Libby Plath, a second-year psychology major from Minneapolis, stopped to talk with a representative from University of Minnesota – Morris. She’d also had good talks with Northland College and the Milwaukee School of Engineering.

“They’re closer to home, and they have everything I want there, so it was a good conversation so far,” she said.

Northland and Morris both have psychology majors, though Plath said she’d also be open to a marketing major with a psychology minor.

Whichever one she chooses, it’ll happen soon, she said. As a hockey and soccer player at Finlandia, she’s hoping to continue playing sports at her new college.

“I have to decide pretty quickly,” she said.

It had been a stressful scramble for students trying to figure out what next year would look like, said Diego Agosto, a freshman majoring in criminal justice. But Monday, he’d seen a lot of schools that were affordable and offered programs comparable to what Finlandia offered.

“If they don’t have any major they have a lot of similar majors that are like it,” he said.

He and other football players said they were looking for a school that was good in both football and academics, while also not exceeding their tuition at Finlandia.

Davon Hall, a second-year sports management major, was leaning toward Albion College, which was only a 45-minute drive from home.

“I can play football, plus it’s affordable,” he said. “And they have my programs. So far, I’m digging Albion.”

Waldorf University is the latest school to sign on to the teach-out program. Louisa Montealvo, director of transfer and international admissions at Waldorf, said the agreement applied to several majors: biology, sports management, business, psychology, history and criminal justice.

“We’d had quite a bit of interest with students reaching out, and we thought, ‘Maybe we could help more students, make that transition more seamless,'” she said.

For other programs, they’d work on transfer agreements individually, she said.

There haven’t been any firm commitments from students yet, Montealvo said. However, the Iowa college has hired a Finlandia soccer coach.

The teach-out agreement has been a big selling point, as has being a smaller college similar to Finlandia, Montealvo said.

“Also, it’s warmer in Iowa,” she said. “Normally I can’t say that, but here I can.”

Students who attended the fair filled out informational forms, which Finlandia is fast-tracking to the schools there Monday. Finlandia is also sending transcripts to the teach-out institutions for free.

If a student’s interested in a new school, Finlandia will also forward their financial aid information so the new school can work on it as quickly as possible.

“We’re really excited and appreciative that all these schools showed up, and that they came out to support our students,” Schwass said. “That’s what it’s all about right now, supporting our students and their next pathway forward.”

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