UCLA

Central to the national conversation about bachelor's degree attainment is the persistence and completion of Latina/o students, the fastest growing and most undereducated segment of the population. Racial/ethnic gaps in access and completion are well documented, but far less is known about the different pathways students take once they enroll at four-year institutions that may contribute to degree disparities. It is estimated that one-third of all students who begin college at these institutions lateral transfer to another four-year institution or reverse transfer to a two-year institution, but this mobility receives very little attention in research that tends to focus on single-institution persistence. We have much to learn from Latina/o pathways and how multiple campuses can contribute to degree attainment.

This study addresses the gap in knowledge about Latina/o students' pathways by examining the student and institutional characteristics associated with lateral and reverse transfer, exploring how they relate to academic undermatching, and describing the informal networks created between institutions as a result of student mobility. Guided by Nora's Student/Institution Engagement Model, Titus' conceptual model of persistence, and Social Network Theory, this study employed HGLM and Social Network Analysis using a unique longitudinal dataset that drew from the CIRP Freshman Survey, National Student Clearinghouse, and IPEDS.

Several findings point to the role of financial insecurity in promoting reverse transfer and reveal that these Latina/o students closely resemble the profile of those who dropout entirely, indicating the reverse transfer pathway is a better alternative that could be addressed by colleges. Lateral transfers are more privileged, have a lower sense of institutional allegiance at college entry, and are likely to persist elsewhere. In terms of institutional networks, the results demonstrate an urgent need to create formal structures to channel mobile students to a degree because connections between institutions are weak. The findings suggest opportunities to implement strategies to decrease mobility or direct students' pathways, including efforts that increase summer school offerings and change the way net tuition is communicated. Given calls for institutional accountability, the study reveals inherent problems with graduation metrics and highlights the importance of a system-wide approach to increase degree attainments.