Approximately 23 percent of students transferred from one college or university to another before attaining their degrees, according to statistics released last month by the United States Department of Education.

The statistics were based on data collected by sampling students attending post-secondary schools between 1996 and 2001. Of the 23 percent, 10 percent transferred by the end of their first year.

Boston University’s freshman retention rate is 89 percent and slowly increasing, according to University Service Center Director Denise Mooney. However, there continue to be a number of students who decide upon transferring at the end of a semester, she added.

‘There are some students who are leaving because they want to study something we don’t offer, or have personal reasons for leaving BU,’ Mooney said. ‘Most reasons students decide to leave are very personal ones that we can not help change.’

Students often leave for medical reasons, other programs not offered by BU or a desire to stay close to home, Mooney said.

Throughout the transfer process, the University Service Center attempts to better understand a student’s reasons for leaving by conducting exit interviews and providing counseling to those considering a transfer, Mooney said.

‘We try to gather information of what students like and dislike about the university and we maintain constant attention to how we can improve our services and give students the advantage of using them,’ she said. ‘We have tried to think of ways to make students’ experience better here at BU, but there isn’t really anything we can do to convince students not to leave.’

Students are not required to participate in exit interviews, while others do not even know of the University Service Center’s role, often skewing results of their observations, according to Mooney.

For Abby Berger, a freshman last year in the College of Communication, transferring was an option she contemplated quite early in the year. Though she said she had her heart set on BU during her senior year of high school, her desires for an urban campus dwindled.

‘Everything at BU seemed to be such a struggle and I felt insignificant among such a large student body,’ she said. ‘I felt as though I was missing out on a typical college experience that the city didn’t offer.’

By the end of her freshman year, Berger decided to accept an offer of admission to the University of Ohio last fall, she said, basing her choice on clear-cut reasons.

‘BU doesn’t seem to have a closed campus community feel,’ Berger said. ‘I felt as though the university didn’t try to unite the student body, and I really felt like I was on my own.’

Though BU claims to provide many of services to those transferring from the university, Berger said she felt she wasn’t considered an asset when she told the school she would be matriculating elsewhere.

‘I got the impression that BU feels like they don’t have to ‘sell’ their school and convince the students to stay,’ she said. ‘While COM was helpful in trying to find ways for me to make my experience a better one at BU, when it came down to my final decision to leave, they had no opinion on the issue.’

Unlike Berger, Student Union president Ethan Clay said he decided to transfer his sophomore year from Carnegie Mellon University to BU for its cohesive atmosphere.

‘I transferred to BU because I was looking for something different,’ he said. ‘My reasons were academic and personal, as BU has a stronger international relations program than Carnegie Mellon, as well as a more cohesive student body.’

Clay and Berger said they agree that the university has a responsibility to pay attention to transferring students when their reasons for leaving become trends.

‘Students come ask me for advice on how to find a niche or create one,’ he said. ‘However, individual choices of a student are out of my responsibility [as Student Union president] but if people came to me with the same reasons, I would definitely make it my problem and seek change.’

During her freshman year, Berger met a number of BU students also contemplating transferring. But she said she realized many of them were willing to disregard to their problems because of BU’s education opportunities.

Like Berger, Mooney said she has encountered unhappy students holding on to a dream of something better than their current situations. Ultimately, most of these visions are out of the university’s control, she said. BU can only help once students voice their opinion, she said, through implementing new services and opportunities to please students.