A national survey released last week showed that transfer students are less likely to get involved on campus.

Some Western officials say, while that may be true, they don’t track involvement based on where students come from.

The National Survey of Student Engagement reported transfer students participated in fewer activities, interacted less with faculty and rated their campus relationships lower than non-transfer students.

The NSSE reported transfer students often “feel marginalized, being unfamiliar with their new surroundings” when compared to other students.

Western’s enrollment report from this fall showed a jump in transfer students from the Kentucky Community and Technical College System, Kentucky public four-year schools and out-of-state schools.

Between the three, there was a 46.5 percent increase in transfer students between this fall and last fall.

The NSSE put transfers into two categories: horizontal, or coming from another four-year institution, and vertical, or coming from a community college.

The survey used about 133,000 senior student responses.

About 15 percent of horizontal transfers and 7 percent of vertical transfers studied abroad compared to 20 percent of non-transfer students, according to the NSSE.

About 49 percent of horizontal transfer students and 43 percent of vertical transfers did an internship compared to 62 percent of non-transfer students, according to the NSSE.

The survey also tracked the number of students who participated in faculty research and completed a senior seminar or capstone course, both of which were less frequent among transfers.

Becky Bennett, director of the Career Services Center, said the center doesn’t track whether students who do internships and co-ops are transfers.

“We don’t care where they come from as long as they do an internship,” she said.

But she said the survey may paint an accurate picture of transfer student involvement.

Most transfer students have already completed general elective classes and live off campus, so they might not be as involved as a typical student, she said.

Jerry Barnaby, interim director of Study Abroad and Global Learning, also said his office doesn’t track whether students who study abroad are transfers.

President Gary Ransdell said that while it’s hard to quantify involvement, it takes a while to get immersed in the new campus when students transfer from one school to another.