For many nights after arriving at Boston University, Anna Fedick felt alone — to the point of tears — and wanted to be somewhere familiar. Though her sadness might be seen as the typical woes of a fresh college student, Fedick was not new to college — she had transferred from Indiana University.

In switching schools, she had lost academic credits, would graduate later than planned, and with added costs. She had started to think that maybe she had done something wrong as her hopes of starting over fell apart.