A nationwide survey of college students recently found that it is a common trend for students to transfer schools or at least take classes at other schools.
This new trend, called "campus hopping," was researched in the survey, which was administered to approximately 237,000 students from 528 universities this year.
"Most of the students who are [transferring] are doing it to better themselves," Dr. George D. Kuh, director of the National Survey of Student Engagement, wrote in The New York Times. Students took courses at multiple campuses for a variety of reasons. The survey stated that nearly half of the students said transferring allowed them to complete their degree requirements sooner. About 20 percent said it gave them a better course schedule.
The numbers of transfer students registered for the fall semesters at AU have increased over the past five years. According to the AU's Office of Institutional Research and Assessment, for the fall of 2005, there were 417 new transfer students registered. This increased from 352 new transfers registered for the fall of 2003 and 297 new transfers registered in the fall of 2000.
Tiffany Sanchez, director of New Student Programs at AU, said students transfer to other colleges for numerous reasons, including academic boredom, irrelevancy of classes, limited or unrealistic expectations of education, being academically unprepared, transition and adjustment difficulties, lack of certainty about major or career and dissidence and incompatibility of the college, Sanchez said.
"AU is a good fit for students who want a liberal education, political involvement and who want to be near D.C.," she said.
Unlike some other universities, AU offers a strong transfer transitions orientation program for incoming transfer students, Sanchez said.
"Our transfer orientation used to be only one day, but due to feedback from transfer students who felt that it was not extensive enough, we made it a day and a half," she said.
In addition, Sanchez said AU instituted a "New Student Checklist" especially tailored to transfer students. Assistant New Student Programs Director Rene Kauder is making an electronic newsletter for new transfer students coming in June of 2006, she said.
John Eric Lingat, a sophomore in the School of International Service, transferred to American this year from St. Peter's College in New Jersey. The reasons he transferred to AU were "because of the education that I'd get here and the social life," he said.
AU had more to offer than his previous college, which was a Jesuit school, he said.
"I like how everyone can express their opinions here," Lingat said. "There is a better range of people involved in everything - Greek life, politics, athletics. Also there are a lot more motivated people that are motivated that same way I am in coming to D.C."
Bridget Slyvester, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences, transferred to AU from Cape Cod Community College. She said the reasons she transferred to AU were the internship opportunities and because she liked D.C.
"My previous school was only a two-year school. AU offers an opportunity to make my own study and get a four-year bachelor degree," Slyvester said.
She said the transfer student orientation was helpful because she met other transfer students and got to feel accustomed to the campus.
As of the fall of 2004, AU had a retention rate of 87.5 percent, according to the office of Institutional Research and Assessment.
