The College of Saint Rose hosted a transfer fair Thursday for students who need to find a new place to study when the college closes its doors after spring semester.

Students visited with 30 prospective institutions at The Massry Center for the Arts.

“It’s kind of crazy to see how things have changed around campus, so drastically, too,” said Milo Smedley, a junior who was just several semesters shy of graduating.

According to students at the fair, some students chose not to come back for spring semester after the late fall announcement by the college that spring would mark the final semester.

Smedley is from Maryland and only heard of Saint Rose when a recruiter visited her high school.

“They kind of stood out to me and made a good first impression, so I decided to move up here, and now I feel like I’m in unfamiliar territory,” she said.

She is hoping now to continue her education locally.

Nine schools have signed teach-out agreements with Saint Rose, including Russell Sage College, hoping to keep talented students from leaving the area. 

“Students are providing us with their bill and award letters so we can help match to tuition costs. What we don’t want is for students to have some credits and no degree,” explained Katie Cooney Lesko, Vice President of Enrollment Management at Russell Sage.

About 800 students need to transfer in order to finish their degrees, according to Patrick Quinn, Interim Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management at Saint Rose.

“Today’s fair includes schools not only that are transfer partners or teach-out partners, […] there’s also schools here that are interested for students to consider them as a regular transfer student,” said Quinn.  

For those with just a few credits remaining before graduating, Saint Rose is planning to hold summer classes.

The college may hold another transfer fair based on student feedback on Thursday’s event, Quinn said.