“…However, transfer pathways between two and fouryear institutions are complicated: only 24% of community college students who indicated a desire to transfer actually enroll in a four-year institution six years later (National Center for Education Statistics, 2011). In addition, research has found patterns of lateral transfers (Bahr, 2009), reverse transfers (Friedel & Wilson, 2015;Winter & Harris, 1999), and co-enrollment (Wang & Wickersham, 2014) between two and four-year institutions creating a student swirl among community colleges and universities. Given this complexity, some researchers have called for call for alternative classifications of higher education institutions not just by the type of credentials awarded but through a more multifaceted approach related to program and student characteristics (Skolnik, 2011).…”