Choosing Transfer Institutions: Examining the Decisions of Texas Community College Students Transferring to Four-Year Institutions

• In Event: 47.045 - How Place and Time Shape the College Choice Process

Abstract

This study draws on theories and models of college choice to examine how transfer-intending community college students decide between four-year institutions. We examine institutional characteristics associated with Texas community college transfer students’ decisions about enrollment. Our sample includes close to 95,000 students who completed a transfer between 2011 and 2016. Our descriptive results indicate that seven institutions account for close to half (45,989) of the vertical transfers observed across all five years of data. Our full predictive models suggest that students in are sample were more likely to choose schools: closer in distance to the community college attended, that are public institutions, with higher six-year graduation rates, and with student demographics similar to their own racial and ethnic identity.

Authors

• Huriya Jabbar, The University of Texas at Austin

• Wesley Edwards, The University of Texas at Austin