Rationalizing neglect: an institutional response to transfer students

Abstract

Almost 60% of college students attend more than one institution (Adelman, 2006; Peter & Forest Cataldi, 2005) and a growing body of literature documents the distinct academic and social challenges these students encounter (Cejda, 1994; Jacobs, Busby, & Leath, 1992; Laanan, 1996, 2001; Townsend, 2001; Townsend, McNerny, & Arnold, 1993; Townsend & Wilson, 2006). For instance, transfer students’ grades often decline for a period of time after arriving at a new campus (Laanan, 2001). This phenomenon, identified by Hills (1965), is widely known as “transfer shock.” Britt and Hirt (1999) suggest one possible explanation for this decline is the “increased difficulty of the specialized major courses in the four-year” institution for transfer students from community colleges (p. 199). However, the issues do not end there. Britt and Hirt also mention social challenges such as “feeling out of place or older than other students” and encountering “personal and administrative problems at a new school” (p. 199) as some of the challenges unique to transfer students.