Second-Year Experience

The research literature on the college sophomore year experience has described what had already been billed by popular media as the sophomore slump in the United States and the second-year blues in the United Kingdom, identifying a period during the college experience when students’ motivation, interest, and satisfaction may decrease. The initial concept gave insight into the psychological, social, and emotional well-being of the second-year college student but has also been used to acknowledge the challenges second-year students may face in their academic classes and in the selection of majors. While the term slump suggests a distinct negative experience, research in the 21st century suggests that the sophomore year experience is filled with challenging decisions and opportunities for college students. This entry discusses reasons why students sometimes experience difficulties during their second year and efforts by some higher education institutions to support students during that year.

One challenge in describing the sophomore year experience is in understanding that because of accumulation of credit hours via dual credit or Advanced Placement, students may enter college with the credit hours to be considered sophomores. However, the sophomore year experience is most often focused on students in their second year of college.

The identification of a potential slump in the sophomore year initially drew attention to this important period of the college process, but a number of other important factors have drawn attention to the second-year experience. First, the growing attention to the first-year experience has changed the college going process. Second, research on the psychosocial, intellectual, and moral development of the college sophomore point to developmental challenges and opportunities. Third, a focus on intentional design of the sophomore year experiences has emerged so as to best provide for students to allow them to thrive or surge forward in the sophomore year rather than slump.