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Written by: Kelly James
Published: 11/09/2005 Nearly Half of all Seniors Have Completed Coursework at Multiple Institutions
The National Survey of Student Engagement recently released data revealing that nearly half of college students switch or take courses at more than one school in a new phenomenon called “Swirling.” This new practice causes a variety of changes to a student’s educational and social experience on campus. The survey found transfer students were less likely to work with professors on research projects, participate in community service, or engage in other activities that enrich learning. George D. Kuh, the director of the survey and a professor of higher education at Indiana University, said engagement is crucial to long term success because, “ the more time and energy students devote to desired activities, the more likely they are to develop the habits of the mind that are key to success after college.”
Many students said they “swirl” to allow them to complete their degree requirements in less time, to give them a better schedule, or to take easier classes. Transfer students cited location and availability of specific programs for their switch. “Most of the students who are doing this are doing it to better themselves,” said Kuh, “but we now know that it is not altogether positive for students.”
The survey, in its 6th year, was developed to help give colleges a greater understanding of what was happening on their campuses. The report was based on completed surveys of 237,000 first-year students and seniors at 528 institutions; more than 80,000 of the seniors answered additional questions about attending multiple institutions. Survey findings show 45% of seniors had taken at least one course from a two- or four-year institution prior to enrolling at their current institution and a third took at least one course at a two- or four- year college while concurrently enrolled at their present institution. Of concurrently enrolled students, over half took their additional courses at two-year colleges or vocational-technical schools.
Dr. Kuh said that many schools report difficultly engaging transfer students in the community as they have missed most of the introductory welcomes to the institution. Schools such as Indiana University have created positions for Coordinator of Transfer Student Services and invite local community college student to attend freshman orientation to encourage them to transfer and alert them of the availabilities at their institution.
A primary problem of swirling beyond the initial impact on the students themselves, Kuh says is, “the more swirling, the less the public really knows about the quality of the educational experience.”
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