College Choice Revisited: Socioeconomic Differences in College Transfer Destinations Among Four-Year College Entrants

Despite a robust body of literature about the choice of students’ first postsecondary institution, we have little insight regarding transfer from four-year colleges and universities across socioeconomic groups. In this study, we argue that when entry to selective colleges reaches a heightened level of competitiveness, transfer may be employed by students from advantaged social backgrounds as an adaptive strategy to gain access. Using multinomial logistic regression, this study draws on data from BPS:04/09 to uncover whether transfer functions as a mechanism of adaptation that exacerbates class inequalities in higher education. We found that students from higher-socioeconomic quartiles who first enrolled in a selective institution are most likely to engage in lateral transfer, but mainly to another college even more prestigious. This study provides evidence of the role of college transfer in exacerbating class inequalities in higher education.