ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — The University of Central Florida is going statewide with its approach to coaching transfer students.

What You Need To Know

  •  UCF is taking its transfer student coaching program statewide

  •  Officials say the program has helped get UCF more transfers than any other school in the state

  • The program is credited with increasing the number of bachelor's degrees among Hispanic students by 378%

The program helped Daniela Gonzalez.

“When it came to transferring form Valencia College, I was pretty much alone in that process,” she said.

That was until she met with her success coach, Kimberly Ortiz.

“The role of a success coach is to work with students from the moment they enroll into the university as they're transitioning into UCF, all the way to graduation,” Ortiz said.

Gonzalez, a first-generation college student, believes the help she's received is a big reason why she will graduate this weekend.

“Mrs. Kimberly went through all the paperwork I needed, but also she helped with what classes I should take,” Gonzalez said.

Ortiz also taught Gonzalez how to apply for student aid so she could afford to go to school.

 “She was always a support for me,” Gonzalez said.

The personalized coaching helped UCF become No. 1 in the state with the highest number of students transferring to it — with a third of those transfers being Hispanic students.

“When we leaned into this in 2016, we found that it really is a difference maker,” Pam Cavanaugh, Associate Vice Provost for UCF Direct Connect said.

“When they have somebody as a support system, it helps release the stressors so we can connect them with resources,” Ortiz said.

Thanks to a $1.2 million grant, UCF, along with the University of South Florida and Florida International University, will launch a success coaching academy to help other universities statewide reduce ‘transfer shock.’

In the past decade, UCF’s Direct Connect program helped increase bachelor’s degrees among Hispanic students by 378%.

“They made me feel — regardless of my ethnicity, where I come from (Colombia) — I could succeed because they were there to support me in any shape or form,” Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez, who hopes to become a teacher some day, plans to attend Indiana University for her doctorate degree.

From 2019 to last year, more than 4,000 students transferred from Valencia College to UCF.