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Most retention literature compares students who remain at an institution with those who leave. This paper seeks to extend the analysis by focusing on freshmen who leave in order to transfer to another institution. Using person‐centered and variable centered approaches, it aims to examine subgroups to determine variables contributing to different transfer rates.

Data were collected through surveys, and a quantitative approach was used to analyze the data.

By the unique nature of the sample (i.e. students contemplating transfer to another institution even before their freshman year at Adelphi begins) and utilization of person‐centered and variable‐centered analytic approaches, the current results provide both practical and methodological implications for student retention.

This is an original work which was previously presented at the 2006 Northeast Association of Institutional Association annual conference.

Administrators of the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) argue that the results from the five benchmarks, constructed from the survey's items, “produce a set of national benchmarks of good educational practice that participating schools are using to estimate the efficacy of their improvement efforts”. The objective of this paper is to show that any assessment of educational quality cannot be separated from students' expectations and goals.

Data are drawn from two sources: five years of NSSE data and Adelphi data. A quantitative approach was used to analyze the data.

While NSSE items are important indicators of experiences that certain types of students might be seeking and expect from their college, the benchmarks are supposed to provide an overall picture of colleges' educational practices.

This is an original work which was previously presented at the 2005 Northeast Association of Institutional Research annual conference.