La Salle is the only Philadelphia university to make Phi Theta Kappa’s Transfer Honor Roll each year since 2016.

While making his college choice, Faysal Faroik Coulibaly, ’21, considered several factors. A native of Burkina Faso, Coulibaly sought a university that would support international students. He factored in campus culture, too. And because the 23-year-old identifies as a religious student, it was important to find a university that embraced students’ faiths.

La Salle University was the perfect fit for Coulibaly, a business administration major.

Since transferring from Dakota College in Bottineau, North Dakota, Coulibaly has found a home in Northwest Philadelphia, along with supportive classmates and faculty. University faculty and staff “make sure we are doing great mentally and physically, and they always interact with us,” he said. “Offering a scholarship to transfer students is also a great help they provide for us.”

La Salle University has once again been recognized as one of the nation’s best colleges and universities for its proven outcomes for transfer students like Coulibaly.

Named to the 2021 Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society’s Transfer Honor Roll, La Salle is one of 150 four-year institutions lauded for creating pathways to support community college transfer students. La Salle is the only Philadelphia university to make Phi Theta Kappa’s Transfer Honor Roll each year since 2016.

“Transfer students contribute significantly to the culture, environment, and diversity of thought that are present on La Salle’s campus,” said La Salle’s Steven F. Siconolfi, Ph.D., interim provost and vice president of academic affairs. “Phi Theta Kappa’s Honor Roll acknowledges our university as one of the nation’s most-transfer friendly institutions—a recognition that aligns with our mission of providing high-impact teaching and learning that results in transformational outcomes for our students. We couldn’t be prouder of this distinction and the performance of our transfer students upon their arrival to La Salle.”

The Transfer Honor Roll is developed annually by Phi Theta Kappa, the premier honor society recognizing the academic achievement of students at associate degree-granting colleges and helping them to grow as scholars and leaders. The Honor Roll accounted for La Salle’s admissions practices, student support services and engagement opportunities, cost of attendance, campus life, and recruitment practices, among other criteria, in helping prospective transfer students find the university that best meets their needs. Institutions ranked in the top-25 percent earned placement in the Honor Roll.

La Salle offers students several pathways toward a bachelor’s degree through dual-admissions partnerships with more than a dozen institutions, like Community College of Philadelphia (CCP), Montgomery County Community College, Delaware County Community College, and others. La Salle is among the institutions deemed by Phi Theta Kappa as “the best at providing a supportive and smooth transition from community college—equating to increased rates of bachelor’s degree attainment for transfer students,” according to Lynn Tincher-Ladner, Ph.D., president and CEO of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society.

Kahnn Thomas, ’20, grew up in Northwest Philadelphia—not far from La Salle’s campus. Thomas, who previously studied at CCP, transferred to La Salle in 2020. In fact, he always thought he “could see myself there,” he said. The finance and accounting major graduates in May from La Salle’s School of Business.

Transferring during the pandemic could have been troublesome for a new student like Thomas. The combination of value and flexibility, however, have made La Salle a perfect fit, he said. La Salle “gives me the best education for the cost,” the 27-year-old Thomas said. A part of La Salle’s Business Leadership Fellows Program, he also pointed to the support of his professors as another strength of the university.

“I recently had a son, and Professors (Tom) Adams and (Jeffrey) Roman have been so helpful to me,” Thomas said. “I could not have asked for better professors. They make La Salle amazing.”

—Christopher A. Vito