Socioeconomic stratification of community college transfer access in the 1980s and 1990s: Evidence from HS&B and NELS

This study analyzes the High School and Beyond (HS&B) and National Educational Longitudinal Study (NELS) data to determine whether a "middle-class takeover" of the community college transfer function occurred between the late 1980s and early 1990s. The findings demonstrate that the middle-class share of transfer enrollments and graduates at both selective and less selective four-year institutions did not increase, except for an increase in the share of lower-middle-SES students among transfer graduates of less selective institutions. On the contrary, our point estimates, though not statistically significant, suggest that the share of students from the highest-SES quintile increased among transfers to selective institutions.