Campus Connection: Transfer students find that Minnesota State College Southeast is a step along the pathway to a bachelor's degree

By Katryn Conlin for the Winona Daily News
November 17, 2023

Photos: Emma Pronschinske (top); Elizabeth Medina (middle); Katelyn Lindsey (lower)

For many students, going to Minnesota State College Southeast is all about taking the next step into a career. But for others, an associate degree at Southeast is a step along the pathway to a four-year degree. 

Since becoming a community and technical college in 2016, credits earned at Minnesota State College Southeast are much easier to transfer to a university or 4-year college.

There are many reasons students choose Southeast for the first two years of college -- saving money, the opportunity to explore options, and personalized education, to name a few.

Emma Pronschinske earned an English Transfer Pathway degree and a certificate in Creative Writing at Southeast before transferring to Minnesota State University Moorhead (MSUM), where she is currently a senior. 

She was concerned about the expense of getting a bachelor's degree. "The biggest benefit of going to MSC Southeast for me was financial. Tuition is very expensive at 4-year schools. I didn't want to take out any student loans until I absolutely had to."

Katelyn Lindsey, now an Environmental Science student at Winona State University, graduated last May with an associate of arts in Liberal Arts and Sciences. Southeast gave her a chance to discover what major she wanted to pursue. 

"Attending Southeast was a good stepping stone for me coming out of high school. I was unsure of what I wanted to study and whether college would be a good fit for me," she said. "Southeast allowed me to discover different career options that I had never considered before." 

A culture of caring

Elizabeth Medina appreciated the culture of caring and personalized education at Southeast. "I always felt like I belonged, I could trust the instructors, I never felt judged. They really worked with me, cared about me, and held me accountable. That guidance really helped."

While Lindsey and Pronschinske started college right after graduating from high school, Medina's pathway was not as traditional. She passed the GED exam at age 22 and started college at Southeast when she was 23. 

"No one in my family had ever gone to college. I wanted to push myself to get a higher education," she revealed. "I always wanted more. I remembered living in poverty and knew that the only way I could get out of that was through college."

After she earned an associate degree in Criminal in Justice at Southeast in 2020, she went on to finish an online bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice and Human Services through Concordia University in St. Paul. Today, Medina is a Public Assistance Employment Specialist at Central Minnesota Jobs and Training Services, Inc., where she helps clients overcome barriers to employment. 

Concordia University accepts up to 90 credits from Southeast toward their 120-credit bachelor's degree. Medina said, "I had a lot more credits from Southeast, so I was able to save quite a bit."

Seamless transfer, ready for university

"My credits transferred really smoothly, especially my Minnesota transfer curriculum credits, said Katelyn Lindsey. "At Winona State, I can focus more on taking my major-related classes instead of the core electives, which I really appreciate."

Not only did their credits transfer easily, all three women felt they were well-prepared for the challenges of going onward to a 4-year institution.

"My time spent at MSC Southeast did a really good job of preparing me for the academic parts of university," Emma Pronschinske explained. "Figuring out schedules that worked for me, holding myself and my work to a higher standard, and emailing professors to ask important questions were all skills I learned at MSC Southeast and continue to use today." 

Elizabeth Medina spoke very highly of her instructors at Southeast. "It's not just a job to them -- they really care about what they are doing. I learned as much in my classes at Southeast as I did at the university," she said, adding, "I had so much self-doubt when I started at Southeast, and they helped me gain more confidence in my abilities."

"Instead of immediately going to a four-year university and spending a lot of money, I was able to take my time, save my money, and find my passions while at Southeast," Katelyn Lindsey summarized. "I knew that my credits at Southeast would transfer to a 4-year university, so it was comforting to know my hard work would stay with me once I was ready to move on."