University of Virginia Library

Transition Students

These are the students
enrolled in the University's
Transition Program which
according to Program Director
Bill Elwood, is geared primarily
to those students who come
from a "non-bookish culture"
but who at the same time stand
out in that environment. In
other words, students selected
for the Transition Program are
those whose "family and
community resources are not
those which are traditionally
college bound." They generally
come from rural high
schools which do not send large
percentages of their graduates
on to college.

The University's
Transition Program came into
being four years ago since it
was believed by some that the
University was catering only to
"obvious winners" while those
students who may have been
deprived of a quality secondary
education (no fault of their
own) were being denied
admission ultimately on that
basis alone. Thus, the
Admissions Office and Mr.
Elwood met at that time to
determine which student it was
who needed that special
consideration as well as to
establish the criteria upon
which the student's application
was to be based.