Abstract
The process by which Hispanic students move from two- to four-year colleges was studied. Based on interviewing, case studies are presented for two Hispanic females and two non-Hispanic Caucasian females attending De Anza College, California. Each of the students aspired to eventually transfer to a four-year college. Students' decisions to attend De Anza College, students' access to transfer information, and student communication networks were examined. Information on the logistics and requirements necessary for transfer was assumed to be conducive to transfer. Student links to the Counseling Center were emphasized because the center is the formal source of transfer information on the De Anza Campus. Hispanic students begin with a distant link or no evident link to a campus counselor. During their experience at the college, a network pattern evolves that brings the students into a second order relationship (friend of a friend) with the counselor. For the Hispanics in the study, the network pattern is not directly linked to the formal transfer information flow of the institution. For the non-Hispanic students a direct relationship with a counselor develops over time. Their network pattern, unlike that for Hispanic students, is directly linked to the formal transfer information flow of the institution. (SW)