College Student Today

The Reverse Transfer Student
Most students in the United States follow what has been considered a standard path on the road to a postsecondary degree. It begins in elementary school and middle school where the student acquires their basic academic knowledge. Next, the typical student attends high school where the college bound student begins to focus on the courses necessary for college admission. At this point, the student decides whether to begin the college experience at a two-year community college or a four-year educational institution.

This traditional journey toward seeking a bachelor’s degree serves the needs of most college bound students. However, in recent years an identified trend provides a different perspective of the college experience. Although not a new phenomenon, a recently recognized group of students are returning to the two-year community college after initially attending a four-year institution.
The linear movements from the community college to a four-year institution have been carefully tracked and studied. There is a scarcity of information, however, on the students who enroll in a two-year institution after first studying at a four-year college or university. These reverse transfer students make up an important and diverse segment of most community college student populations. Data concerning the actual volume of reverse transfer students on a state-by-state basis are largely unknown. Currently, databases maintained at federal and state levels are not structured to track this type of information.

Although the lack of study and definition of terms makes the current percentage of reverse transfer students difficult to obtain on a national level, there are several variables that seem to affect the size of the group in a particular area. These variables include:

• Community college proxmity to four -year schools
• Comparative costs as related to student financial ability
• Consumer satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the area university
• The offering of programs and courses that match one or more of the subgroups of interest
• Perceptions of the effectiveness of placement services of the two-year college and publicized employment rates of graduates
• Student's lack of academic success at the four-year university
• Problems of social adjustment at the university

All indications are that further research into the phenomenon of the reverse transfer student is warranted. The community college has typically been recognized as the principle opportunity for those students who find themselves academically under prepared for postsecondary education. The community college is also a popular venue for those individuals seeking a particular skill or those interested in deepening their knowledge in a specific skill set. The continuing rise of the reverse transfer student is likely to have an affect on what has long been thought to be the mission of the community college.