Miami student creates TransferU to tackle $6.5 billion credit transfer problem
Graeme Banks ‘27 highlights how edupreneurship empowers future educators to drive real change
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Published
Miami student Graeme Banks ‘27, creator and founder of TransferU
Miami student creates TransferU to tackle $6.5 billion credit transfer problem
•
Published
Transferring college credits from one institution to another may seem simple, but for many, it can become more costly than most may realize. Every year, more than $6.5 billion is lost in the process, and the true price paid by students is more than just financial.
Because when credits don't carry over, students also lose valuable time and momentum. In fact, 43% of transfer credits are lost forever, which forces one in five students to repeat courses they’ve already completed. Even more troubling, 16% of students also end up abandoning their degrees entirely after being derailed by this “leaky pipeline” that drips across higher ed.
It’s a complex and sometimes mysterious process that Graeme Banks ‘27, an Integrated Social Studies Education and Political Science major and member of the Honors College, has experienced personally.
“I didn't realize how difficult or how challenging transferring can be,” Banks said. “I just thought it was a flip of a switch. I was at the University of Delaware. Now I'm going to Miami. And I didn't know all the background that went into transferring credits, which ones are equal to each other, or where they are listed as equivalents?”
But now that he’s found a home in Miami’s College of Education, Health and Society (EHS), what could have been a distressing setback for Banks has instead become a successful turning point.
As an EHS student, Banks was introduced to the emerging concept of edupreneurship, which employs business principles and entrepreneurial thinking to help educators create innovative solutions to solve systemic problems in the educational system. And for Banks, it was an inspirational moment that illuminated a new way forward.
“It just clicked in my head, and I thought it was genius,” Banks said. “I think edupreneurship could be a national movement, and it got me thinking about this transfer process again.”
That spark led to the genesis of TransferU, a technology platform designed to make the transfer process more transparent, student-centered, and efficient.
TransferU goes beyond existing tools by showing which courses fully transfer, whether they’re currently available, and it even allows advisors to upload transcripts for instant evaluations. According to Banks, it helps students take more control of their own education by bringing together different aspects of existing technological interfaces and informational databases that have all remained surprisingly disparate.
Until now.
"Graeme's solution description and economic value proposition are clear, and he’s showing how an entrepreneurial approach can create meaningful impact,” said Jennifer Al Bahrani, a Department of Entrepreneurship instructor, who also holds an Ed.D. in entrepreneurship education. “It is not just about ideas. It is a method to create change through action. He is taking on a challenge that touches over a million students every year. Supporting projects like TransferU gives our future teachers the chance to practice this mindset in real-world contexts.”
To build TransferU, Banks developed the concept and built a working prototype through research and trial-and-error with coding tools. While the site is launched, it still requires university partnerships to provide official data before it can be accessed nationally by students everywhere.
This next phase of the project is in process now. In the meantime, it already aligns with Miami’s goals of reducing barriers for transfer students. And it also represents a prime example of edupreneurship’s ability to transform systemic challenges into innovative solutions by encouraging educators to embrace a business-informed mindset — one that empowers them not only to teach within the system, but to improve it.
“Graeme's work embodies the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship EHS aims to cultivate,” said EHS Dean Amity Noltemeyer. “His project reflects our goal of developing changemakers who see opportunity in every obstacle, and it's a powerful example of how student-led innovation can address a real-world problem.”
Because when credits don't carry over, students also lose valuable time and momentum. In fact, 43% of transfer credits are lost forever, which forces one in five students to repeat courses they’ve already completed. Even more troubling, 16% of students also end up abandoning their degrees entirely after being derailed by this “leaky pipeline” that drips across higher ed.
It’s a complex and sometimes mysterious process that Graeme Banks ‘27, an Integrated Social Studies Education and Political Science major and member of the Honors College, has experienced personally.
“I didn't realize how difficult or how challenging transferring can be,” Banks said. “I just thought it was a flip of a switch. I was at the University of Delaware. Now I'm going to Miami. And I didn't know all the background that went into transferring credits, which ones are equal to each other, or where they are listed as equivalents?”
But now that he’s found a home in Miami’s College of Education, Health and Society (EHS), what could have been a distressing setback for Banks has instead become a successful turning point.
As an EHS student, Banks was introduced to the emerging concept of edupreneurship, which employs business principles and entrepreneurial thinking to help educators create innovative solutions to solve systemic problems in the educational system. And for Banks, it was an inspirational moment that illuminated a new way forward.
“It just clicked in my head, and I thought it was genius,” Banks said. “I think edupreneurship could be a national movement, and it got me thinking about this transfer process again.”
That spark led to the genesis of TransferU, a technology platform designed to make the transfer process more transparent, student-centered, and efficient.
TransferU goes beyond existing tools by showing which courses fully transfer, whether they’re currently available, and it even allows advisors to upload transcripts for instant evaluations. According to Banks, it helps students take more control of their own education by bringing together different aspects of existing technological interfaces and informational databases that have all remained surprisingly disparate.
Until now.
"Graeme's solution description and economic value proposition are clear, and he’s showing how an entrepreneurial approach can create meaningful impact,” said Jennifer Al Bahrani, a Department of Entrepreneurship instructor, who also holds an Ed.D. in entrepreneurship education. “It is not just about ideas. It is a method to create change through action. He is taking on a challenge that touches over a million students every year. Supporting projects like TransferU gives our future teachers the chance to practice this mindset in real-world contexts.”
To build TransferU, Banks developed the concept and built a working prototype through research and trial-and-error with coding tools. While the site is launched, it still requires university partnerships to provide official data before it can be accessed nationally by students everywhere.
This next phase of the project is in process now. In the meantime, it already aligns with Miami’s goals of reducing barriers for transfer students. And it also represents a prime example of edupreneurship’s ability to transform systemic challenges into innovative solutions by encouraging educators to embrace a business-informed mindset — one that empowers them not only to teach within the system, but to improve it.
“Graeme's work embodies the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship EHS aims to cultivate,” said EHS Dean Amity Noltemeyer. “His project reflects our goal of developing changemakers who see opportunity in every obstacle, and it's a powerful example of how student-led innovation can address a real-world problem.”
Established in 1809, Miami University is located in Oxford, Ohio, with regional campuses in Hamilton and Middletown, a learning center in West Chester, and a European study center in Luxembourg. Interested in learning more about the College of Education, Health and Society or the Department of Entrepreneurship? Visit their website for more information.
