Sam Powers | Student Life

With the start of the new semester, new faces abound on campus. For a handful of students, this isn’t just the start of a new school year — it’s also a completely fresh start at a new college. In addition to the 1,851-student-strong class of 2028, 50 transfer students from 38 colleges count among the new arrivals at WashU. But what isn’t so clear is the opposite side of that equation: the number of students who chose not to return to campus.

Whether they’re looking to transfer to another university, take a break, re-evaluate their plans, or deal with any assortment of personal factors, a significant number of college students unenroll from their schools each year, many of whom never return to complete their degrees. According to a July 2024 report from the National Student Clearinghouse, the number of these “stopouts,” or students between the ages of 18 and 34 that have completed some credits but not received a degree, rose by 15,100. 

The 2024 admissions cycle has been among the first for which the University implemented a “systematic” tracking system for students transferring out of WashU, according to Jen Smith, Vice Provost for Education Initiatives. Although admissions doesn’t yet have an exact figure, estimates sit around 50–60 students who left WashU for other institutions within this cycle. This figure is in line with typical data from the past few years, post-COVID. While the focus of admissions data has traditionally been on incoming students, Smith hopes to learn more about the reasons students leave in order to help with retention. 

“We’re starting to look at who’s applying to transfer so that we could understand something about what’s motivating that. We really only have what people tell us when they withdraw from the University, and some people just ghost us,” explained Smith.

The difficulty in tracking these students stems from the way in which the transfer process operates. While students notify WashU of their intent to transfer with a College Report Form and meet with their academic advisors here, the bulk of their application is processed by the schools they’re applying to. Although WashU has attempted to collect exit data from students, these responses are mostly voluntary. Low response rates may be influenced by the simple fact that reporting grievances back to the very institution students are trying to leave can be awkward and intimidating.

“I remember one instance where I had a faculty member super upset because a student in their lab said they were leaving WashU because their advisor told them they weren’t going to be able to complete their degree on time,” said Smith. 

After talking to the advisor, she learned the student had told them they were actually transferring to be closer to a significant other. “I’m always a little bit skeptical about the reasons we get told,” she added.

Outside of individually reported data about reasons for transferring, there is a gap in information shared between universities about transfer data. Additionally, around two-thirds of students who request a College Report Form don’t end up actually transferring out of WashU, according to Smith, which further muddies the data.

“Other universities don’t tell us if they’ve received a transfer application from our students. We don’t know the difference between ‘they never completed their application,’ ‘they applied and were rejected everywhere,’ or ‘they applied and were accepted, but chose to stay here anyway,’” said Smith.

WashU uses National Clearinghouse data to follow outcomes for students who enroll at other institutions, but the process requires tracking individual students after the fact, and offers no clear answers to their decision-making process. 

Smith noted that of the students who responded to exit questions, the most commonly cited reasons for transfer included seeking courses of study not offered at WashU, being closer to home, and financial considerations. While some of those issues are grounds for irreconcilable differences (Smith cites a former WashU student who transferred to a school in Europe to pursue equestrian studies or others who objected to the weather), other considerations, such as financial aid, could potentially be addressed by the school.

Sophomore Ben Denker transferred to Cornell University at the end of his first year through Cornell’s Transfer Option, which was presented to him during his first round of college applications during his senior year of high school. Instead of the typical accepted/waitlisted/denied responses, Denker, a New York native, received an offer to attend any school of his choosing for his first year of college, with the option of transferring to Cornell in his second year, as long as he met certain academic standards.

Although Denker was initially unsure if he wanted to transfer, dozens of conversations consulting friends and family helped shape his decision. Ultimately, Cornell’s advantage in specialty programs (and lack of supplemental essays in the process) became the deciding factor.

“At WashU, I was sort of unsure what I wanted to do. I was intending on majoring in political science and economics, but I wasn’t so sure. But the Cornell ILR (School of Industrial and Labor Relations) program appealed to me a lot, and there were specific classes I wanted to take,” Denker said.

With only a couple of weeks of school under his belt so far, Denker is still settling into his new campus, but asserts that transferring has been the right choice so far. 

“Don’t be afraid to…transfer if the only concern [you have] is social, because if you put yourself out there, it’ll be easy to adjust socially when you get to the new campus,” Denker said. 

Due to the complex nature of these decisions, though, it can be difficult to parse what truly drives students to transfer. The choice is a difficult one that often arises from within an entangled litany of factors, and advisors often don’t want to increase the stress of that process by pressing students for answers.

“I think we tend to be pretty sensitive, because I know with some of my advisees, it’s felt like a super awkward conversation. You want somebody to be happy where they are, and you don’t want to seem like you’re pressuring somebody to stay here,” said Smith.

Sophomore Ben Wilkinson, a former political science major at WashU, transferred to The Ohio State University at the start of the spring semester his first year. For Wilkinson, the decision to transfer was based on his strong family and community ties to his home state. 

“I was noticing that I didn’t have much time to talk to these people I was really, really close to, and our relationship wasn’t as strong. I value those relationships a lot, and maybe WashU just wasn’t for me. I’d rather be closer to home,” Wilkinson said.

Moving back to Ohio also allowed Wilkinson to take advantage of his existing connections within his community, rather than start over in a completely new place. Since transferring, he’s begun coaching a high school speech and debate team, something he wasn’t able to achieve in St. Louis, where he lacked the local connections to replicate that involvement in St. Louis. 

At many institutions, and especially the large state schools favored by outgoing students, transfers aren’t necessarily as prioritized by the administration as incoming first-years. Denker’s sophomore year living situation is “less desirable,” as he has found himself situated on the side of campus mostly populated by first-years. Wilkinson also cited long wait times for academic advising and less personalized teaching from “hit or miss” instructors in large lecture courses.

A more significant issue, though, has been the financial realities of transferring. While many students cite tuition as a factor in their decision to transfer, many schools also do not offer the same level of financial aid to transfers as they do to first-time students.

Wilkinson pointed to the 2024-25 tuition increase at WashU as a contributing factor to his decision to transfer. Although the decision to raise tuition by $2,750, or a 4.5% increase from the previous school year, was announced after Wilkinson had already transferred, the move only reaffirmed his choice of a lower in-state tuition at OSU. 

However, the financial reality of this decision became a little less clear once he arrived in Columbus.

“One of the reasons I transferred was for financial reasons, but it [ended up being] very nebulous. When I was transferring, I just assumed it’d be better [financially], because WashU upped their tuition. But overall, I was a transfer student, and OSU is kind of stingy about that. They still kind of are this semester, and I guess that’s one of the things I regret,” Wilkinson said.

Smith points to this financial discrepancy as an important factor for WashU to address with students who express the desire to transfer, suggesting setting up meetings between those students and their financial aid officers to discuss potential options and outcomes.

“Our financial aid people understand that there’s not the same availability for aid for transfer students as there is for first-time students. And we also know that given what we’re able to provide generally, that the cost to students [at WashU] is cheaper than more places you would expect. And so the last thing we would want would be for somebody to find that out after they transfer,” Smith said.

Ultimately, choosing to transfer colleges is a major decision, impacting all aspects of students’ lives from the financial and academic to social and familial. The best choice for each individual evades easy answers, and questions about student outcomes linger. However, Smith wants every student to feel supported and set on their academic journey, no matter where it takes them.

“Bottom line, we want students to be in the place that they’re set up to thrive. I would love for that to be WashU. And if it’s absolutely not the right fit for somebody, I’m not trying to keep them in a place that they’re unhappy with, but I think we want to make the best attempt to make it possible for somebody to continue here.”