Abstract
In a national climate focused on four-year graduation rates and providing students with an educational background that supports their future vocational success, students are experiencing increased pressure to not only graduate “on time,” but to enter college with a clear picture of their intended major and career path. Students also experience unexpected challenges, difficulties, and transitions that affect their abilities to be successful in college. Simultaneously, institutional leaders continue to adopt interdisciplinary degree programs whose flexible nature allow students to utilize credit from a variety of disciplines, in some cases graduate more efficiently than in other disciplinary degree programs, and/or to focus on a unique area of study that supports their post-graduation goals. The Transitional Learning Framework of Wildemeersch & Stroobants (2018) provides strategies for working with students who are experiencing challenge and transition, especially related to their academic path and vocational goals. Although the purpose and benefits of interdisciplinary education, student behavior related to their pursuit of higher education, and the Transitional Learning Framework have been researched at length, the specific presence and application of the Transitional Learning Framework to an undergraduate interdisciplinary studies degree program has not yet been investigated. This qualitative research analysis uses the intrinsic case study approach to gain insight into the experiences of students in an interdisciplinary baccalaureate program at a public, four-year institution located in the Southeastern United States, and to assess the degree to which the program supported or failed to support these students through times of challenge and transition.