As Grand Valley State University transitions between semesters in the new year, many students enroll at the university while others graduate or decide to leave.

Philip Batty, director of Institutional Analysis, said about 5 to 6 percent of new freshmen leave between the fall and winter semesters. For all other class-standings, he said the number is undeterminable until after classes begin.

“We won’t know anything about post-fall retention until winter classes start,” Batty said. “Actually, we wait until the end of the drop or add period to let the dust settle a bit before we measure.”

The reason for departing from GVSU, Batty said, is complex and varies by student. After spending some time away from home, he said many first-year students choose to move closer to home.

“The most common reason given is ‘I wanted to move closer to home,’” Batty said. “Students who are involved in activities outside class, who are certain about their major and have interacted positively with an academic advisor have historically been least likely to drop out.”

Batty said the average number of transfer students admitted between semesters at the university is 500.

“About half of the transfer students admitted in the winter semester come from Michigan community colleges,” Batty said. “This includes about 30 percent from Grand Rapids Community College.”

From the winter of 2015, the top community colleges students transferred from included Grand Rapids Community College, Muskegon Community College and Lansing Community College. The number of students that attended from GRCC was 162 during this semester.

During the fall of 2015, a total of 1,808 students were admitted to GVSU as new undergraduate transfers, according to an Institutional Analysis survey. More students were admitted in the fall semester than the winter with 474 students transferred.

“Last winter at Grand Valley State University, we had about 504 new undergraduate transfer students enrolled for the winter 2015 semester,” said Jodi Chycinski, director of admissions.

The top universities on the transfer list include: Michigan State University, Ferris State University and Northwestern Michigan College.

During calculation for the winter enrollment, Batty said students participating in study abroad programs in other countries, enrolled at GVSU for the semester, are counted in the enrollment numbers.

“For many study abroad programs, the students register as GVSU students for the semester even though they’re physically elsewhere,” he said. “Those students are counted as enrolled. Students in other types of study abroad arrangements are not counted.”

For more information about university’s resources and outcomes visit, http://www.gvsu.edu/ia.