Michigan State University is home to more than 50,000 students from all over the world, representing 138 countries, all 50 U.S. states and all 83 counties in Michigan. And no matter the path they take to MSU, students are supported through the university’s ever-expanding resources to prepare them for success.
“At MSU, we want to be an institution where every student who we admit is able to learn, thrive and graduate,” says Renata Opoczynski, the assistant provost for undergraduate student success.
First-generation and transfer students make up a large portion of the MSU community: More than one in five Spartans are first-generation students — a student whose parent or parents did not earn a bachelor’s degree — and more than one in eight students are transfer students. And they’re in good company. Many staff and faculty at MSU come from similar backgrounds, so they can draw on lived experience as they help students navigate the university. Opoczynski’s family immigrated to the U.S. when she was young, and even though her parents had degrees from Poland, Opoczynski describes herself as a first-generation American student and can empathize with the lack of support from family that many first-generation students face. She now helps shape programming for students facing similar challenges she encountered when she was an undergraduate student.
She has plenty of support from MSU as it builds on its mission to reduce barriers, create opportunities and provide tailored support for first-generation and transfer students through programs like Envision Green, the Transfer Student Success Center and the First‐Generation Leadership and Innovation Vanderploeg Scholars.
Quiana Kelly, a junior who transferred to MSU from Palm Beach State Community College in Florida, is one student who has experienced that tailored support firsthand. “MSU wants first-year students to feel welcome,” Kelly says, “but they don’t forget about transfer students. There are so many resources available, and they host a lot of events for transfer students like me.” For Kelly, that support has allowed her to find her place on campus. “I have my own story to share and my own story to tell, and that’s OK at MSU.”
A model partnership supporting transfer students
While Kelly has taken some time getting used to the cold after moving to East Lansing from Florida, she found a place for herself at MSU on the Transfer Student Advisory Board, a program run by Charles Jackson, director of the Transfer Student Success Center. A junior majoring in criminal justice, Kelly chose MSU after community college because she has family nearby.
As a board member, she attends events and answers questions for new transfer students — questions just like the ones she had about advisors and signing up for classes. “A lot of our transfers come from Lansing Community College, but sometimes they’re like me, from another state,” Kelly says, “and when they ask a question, I think, ‘I can relate to this,’ and I’m glad I’m there to answer.”
Kelly is correct in saying that many transfer students come from Lansing Community College, or LCC. More than 5,500 LCC students have transferred to MSU in the past decade. Many of those students have used the resources of Envision Green, a partnership between LCC and MSU that helps students navigate between the institutions and maximize their opportunities at both. Envision Green supports every step of a student’s transfer journey through a personalized plan that provides admissions, academic, professional and social connections to MSU.
MSU and LCC recently extended Envision Green, which launched in 2021, with a memorandum of understanding committed to growing the partnership. The number of students transferring with the help of Envision Green continues to grow, too. Laura Wise, Envision Green’s program director, says there was a 72% increase in the use of Envision Green advisors during the fall 2024 semester compared to the previous year.
Wise and her colleague Erika Espinoza work at both campuses, interacting with advisors at MSU and LCC to make the transfer process as seamless as possible — including transferring credits and making sure online information (like which credits will transfer to MSU) is up to date — for students. According to Wise, both institutions are committed to the partnership, which has helped to make it successful as it grows in scope.
Envision Green also partners with MSU’s Pathway to Research program, which aims to provide critical one-on-one support as students look to secure research positions across campus.
Wise also credits Envision Green’s monthly transfer success sessions that includes MSU Admissions and the LCC Transfer Center. “We make it very accessible for any student, no matter where they are in the path, to be able to put names with faces and have specific people that they know they can reach out to,” Wise says.
Paving paths to success
Across MSU’s campus, the well-worn “desire paths” carved by students over the years tell a story of finding the most direct routes to their destinations. These unofficial trails, later paved by the university, symbolize MSU’s commitment to meeting students where they are and supporting them on their unique journeys.
Economics senior Sameer Shah transferred to MSU after being a caregiver. In 2019, Shah was taking courses at Grand Rapids Community College when his grandparents’ health deteriorated. He took a gap year to care for them, then worked as a realtor for about a year before realizing he wanted to go back to school. Soon, he was taking online courses at Washtenaw Community College, Henry Ford Community College and LCC before transferring to MSU.
Like Kelly, Shah is a member of the Transfer Student Advisory Board. He credits his success and transition to MSU to attending a new transfer event where he met fellow students who happened to live in the same apartment complex as him. That friend group was helpful as he adjusted to college life. As part of the advisory board, he acts as a mentor for fellow transfer students at MSU — and he is proud of the path he and other transfer students are taking.
“It can be easy to follow the crowd and go straight to a four-year school,” Shah says. “But I had to care for my elders, and others have reasons keeping them from following a norm. Being a transfer student means you’re willing to explore alternative paths and you’re willing to take the road that’s not as often traveled.”
MSU is taking intentional steps to support students like Shah and others on less common paths. The university has plans to partner with other community colleges across the state in the future and hopes, through Envision Green, to become a national model for creating seamless pathways for transfer students. For example, the MSU College of Human Medicine recently signed an early admission agreement with Oakland Community College, offering premedical students an enhanced opportunity for admission to medical school.
By strengthening the partnership with LCC and other community colleges, MSU aims to become Michigan’s premier transfer-serving institution. “We need to support every step of their transfer journey to minimize credit loss, education costs and time to degree,” MSU President Kevin M. Guskiewicz, Ph.D., said during an Envision Green event in December 2024. “Through such expansions of Envision Green and growing our community college relationships, Michigan State aims to reinforce its identity as Michigan’s state university.”
Demystifying college life for first-generation students
“There is no way to look around a classroom or campus and see who’s a first-generation student,” says Sarah Ward, program director for First-Generation Student Success. It can be hard to be the first family member to go to college, not knowing some of the vernacular or having been exposed to things like the registrar or dealing with financial aid questions. Ward explains this “hidden curriculum” can be a challenge but that her office is committed to providing spaces where first-generation students can come forward and ask the questions they may feel uncomfortable asking.
Throughout the fall semester, the First-Generation College Student Initiative hosts First-Gen Fridays at locations across campus. The events are open to all students, staff and faculty, with discussions and workshops offering ways to better support MSU’s first-gen community. Each year, MSU also celebrates First-Generation Week leading up to Nov. 8 to commemorate the signing of the Higher Education Act, which provided colleges and universities with the funds and resources to focus on retention, access and completion for first-generation students. This April, the First-Generation Student Success team will host its first celebration to provide graduating students with stoles to wear during commencement as a sign of their hard work and success.
MSU is doing more than hosting events and roundtables for first-generation students. Thanks to a $17 million gift from alumnus Martin Vanderploeg in 2022, a subset of students is part of the First‐Generation Leadership and Innovation Vanderploeg Scholars. Students in the program are given access to scholarships, summer bridge programs, extra academic advising, education abroad opportunities and a mentorship program. They develop leadership skills and become innovators in their chosen fields thanks to access to support and funding through program staff and the university at large.
“A lot of first-gen students are busy spending their free time learning how to be successful in the classroom and in their social setting,” Ward says. “The Vanderploeg Scholars work with us, and we guide them to help them add a little more to their experience. Whether it’s helping them set up a study abroad trip or looking for internships, these students want to go above and beyond.”
Momin Hassan is one of those students. He received the 2024 MSU First-Generation Student Success Student of the Year Award at the Vanderploeg First-Gen College Celebration ceremony last November. “MSU honoring first-generation students like myself demonstrates their commitment to creating a more inclusive environment for our community,” says Hassan, a senior majoring in biomedical laboratory science. “It’s a powerful acknowledgment of our dedication to education and our passion for creating meaningful change.”
Creating spaces for success
MSU is looking for other ways to engage students throughout their academic experience. Thanks to presidential initiatives from Guskiewicz and an almost $1 million grant from the state of Michigan, the university is in the early stages of developing physical spaces for both first-generation and transfer students.
The First-Gen Center will serve as a dedicated space to foster community and celebrate the unique contributions of first-generation college students, staff and faculty to campus. In addition, Guskiewicz announced MSU’s plans to build a physical location for the newly created Transfer Student Success Center, which assists transfer students with leveraging campus resources, building community and creating a sense of belonging at MSU. This on-campus transfer student success center will be supported by grant funding from the state’s Sixty by 30 initiative, which supports the goal of getting 60% of adults in Michigan to a postsecondary credential by 2030. That number currently stands at 51.1%.
“Research shows us that having a physical location for students increases their sense of belonging even if they never use that space,” says Opoczynski. “Seeing that the institution is invested in their success makes them feel an affinity for that institution.”
According to Opoczynski, a sense of belonging is the greatest predictor of retention and graduation. The MSU 2030 Strategic Plan set a goal of increasing the six-year graduation rate by 5% to 86%. In fact, 86% of students who transfer to MSU complete their four-year degrees. “We’re really trying to go all in, and many of our student success initiatives are around building this sense of belonging and community on campus.”
Learn, thrive and graduate
“We wholeheartedly believe every student we admit has the capacity to succeed,” says Opoczynski, “so we try to take an institutional deficit approach, asking: What can we do to change the institution to make sure it is set up in a way, and has the resources it needs, to manifest success for students? We think of student success as a holistic experience at MSU where students are both academically successful and have built a sense of purpose and belonging, found community and developed their health and well-being throughout their time at our institution.”
First-generation and transfer students represent only a few of the different pathways Spartan students take to achieve success, and a roster of other campus programs give students the tools to succeed in their college journeys. Dow STEM Scholars Program; the Detroit Mastering Academics Demonstrating Excellence, or Detroit M.A.D.E., Scholars Program; and the TRIO Student Support Services program all offer resources and support for students from a variety of backgrounds.
Closing opportunity gaps and graduating more first-generation and transfer students creates a ripple effect of benefits. As more students persist and graduate from MSU, their success secures their future and fuels a more educated workforce — regardless of the path they took to achieve it.