As the fall semester draws to a close, familiar faces will no longer be seen on campus come next semester. These are the faces of the students who make the decision to transfer out of Whitman.
The college tracks the number of students who transfer through its retention rates. These rates are measurements of the percentage of students from a given matriculation year who are still actively enrolled at the college.
“Retention rates at Whitman have increased over the last twenty years, and recently have held steady between 93 percent and 95 percent for first year retention and between 88 percent and 90 percent for second year retention,” said Director of Institutional Research Neal Christopherson.
Whitman currently has the highest retention rate among colleges in the Pacific Northwest, and its retention rate is comparable to competitor schools such as Colorado College, Occidental College, Grinnell College and the Claremont colleges.
Nevertheless, every semester, there are students who grapple with the difficult decision of deciding whether or not to continue their studies at Whitman.
According to Dean of Students Chuck Cleveland, who often meets with students contemplating this decision, there are a multitude of reasons why students decide to leave Whitman.
Based on Cleveland’s experience, the most common reason why students transfer out of Whitman is because another school offers a program of study that is more aligned with their interests. He notes that these programs of study typically lend themselves toward a more practical application of some sort.
Jerica Johnson, a current sophomore at the University of Utah, left Whitman for this reason.
“I decided to transfer because the University of Utah has more programs geared toward science and medicine, and that is something that I plan on going into,” she said in an email.
Cleveland also comes across a number of students who leave Whitman because they want to experience a different college setting. These students may attend a larger school or a school in another geographic location.
Arnuad Sillis, a sophomore at Occidental College, transferred out of Whitman for this reason. “I wanted to be in a bigger city where there were more off-campus opportunities,” he said. “I love Oxy and life in Los Angeles however I have no hard feelings towards Whitman and plan on driving up to visit my friends there after finals here at Oxy.”
“I love Walla Walla, but there was just so little that appealed to me there and while Whitman worked very hard to entertain everybody in the bubble, I just personally need to be able to get off campus and have a city with which to interact,” said Nathan Eberhart, a sophomore at Colorado College.
He also transferred to Colorado College because its Romance Language department and block plan were more appealing to his interests and learning style.
Students also leave for financial reasons or because they want to be closer to home and friends and family.
From Cleveland’s experience, a large number of students who leave to experience another college setting or program of study surprisingly end up returning to Whitman to complete their undergraduate education.
“There are pros and cons to every school,” said Cleveland. “I don’t think that there is anything wrong with taking a semester or two away from Whitman because sometimes in order to validate that you made the right decision to come to Whitman you have to leave and then come back.”
When students meet with Cleveland to discuss transferring, he always encourages them to take a leave of absence rather than withdrawing from the college.
“Even if they’re absolutely certain that they’re not going to come back, I always try to talk them into taking a leave of absence. It’s surprising to me how many students, who think that they are never going to come back, actually do return to Whitman,” said Cleveland.
“If they take a leave of absence, the door is always open for them to return,” he said. “Their financial aid is restored and they don’t have to go through a modified re-application process –– they can simply come back.”
Johnson, however, who is on a leave of absence, has no plans to return to Whitman. “I am extremely happy with my decision. I miss my good friends at Whitman, but the University of Utah is a much better school for me. I like being in a city and being able to see my family,” she said.
“I definitely plan to stay [at Colorado College], but an important part of the confidence behind that statement comes from knowing that I have the unending support of my Whitman friends who steadfastly remain my friends despite the distance and time that separate us,” said Eberhart.