ERIC Number: EJ1466263
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025-May
Pages: 25
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1521-0251
EISSN: EISSN-1541-4167
Available Date: 0000-00-00
Exploring Between-Sector Transfers: Why For-Profit University Students Switch to Public Institutions
Molly Ott1; Thomas Zimmerman2
Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice, v27 n1 p203-227 2025
This study explores the choices and experiences of undergraduates who transfer out of for-profit 4-year universities and matriculate into a public university. Interviews with students who moved from one of seven 4-year for-profit universities to a single public university during Fall 2021 indicated a combination of academic and financial factors that precipitated their decisions to transfer. Specific academic-related issues included lack of alignment between students' interests and the school's available degrees, quality concerns, and institutional policies and practices that restricted students' agency in making decisions about their academic program of study. Affordability was also a major consideration for many study participants. Attending the for-profit was a low-cost option initially but changes in aid packages and/or tuition prices motivated them to seek less expensive options elsewhere.
Descriptors: Change Strategies, Institutional Characteristics, College Choice, Student Attitudes, For Profit Colleges, Performance Factors, Academic Achievement, Private Sector, College Transfer Students, Student Interests, Socioeconomic Influences, Differences, Public Colleges, Admission (School), Decision Making, Paying for College, Educational Quality
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: 1Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA; 2Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA