​Swirlers

Students move in and out of programs during their college careers

Published July 26, 2013 by Marjolijn Bijlefeld

Educators have a word for students who weave in and out of college and university programs: swirlers.

These are the students who might take a semester or two at one school, switch to a community college for a few semesters and transfer back to another university for a bachelor’s degree. A look at the 2008 bachelor’s degree graduates of Virginia’s colleges and universities showed that one-third of them started or took classes at a community college, says Jeffrey Kraus, assistant vice chancellor for public relations at Virginia’s Community Colleges.

“There are growing instances of people using their community college almost as a graduate program. They earn their bachelor’s in some humanities field and come back to a community college for a technical education, such as nursing,” Kraus says.

The community colleges also offer certificate and credential programs “that can have you in a career in six-to-eight weeks. Someone can take a six-week truck driving program, graduate on a Friday and start work the next Monday in a job that pays $40,000-$60,000 with benefits.”