Planning to Stay, Planning to Leave: Low-Income Students' Decisions About College Transfer

• In Event: 66.040 - Higher Education Access for Marginalized Students: Toward Justice in College Readiness and College Transfer

Abstract

One-third of college students transfer at least once before earning a degree, but little is known about how students begin thinking about transfer or how their decision-making evolves over time. Our study uses qualitative and quantitative data to illuminate how students make and re-make decisions about whether and where to persist in college. Based on data from over 200 interviews with 50 students from six colleges in Wisconsin, we show that deciding to transfer or not transfer is a dynamic process that is shaped by students’ social class and access to family, friends, and advisors who can provide counsel about different options. We illustrate that the process through which students make transfer decisions has important implications for social stratification.

Authors

• Hannah K. Miller, University of Wisconsin - Madison

• Sara Goldrick-Rab, University of Wisconsin Madison