Beyond university dropout. An approach to university transfer

Abstract

Degree transfer is understood as the increasingly common phenomenon among students of changing university degrees or university, especially after the first or second years of the degree. The profile of students who transfer (3,861students, 8.3% of students) is constructed based on microdata from the University Pre-enrolment Register of Catalonia and an explanatory model is validated by means of Multivariate Logistic Regression. Transfer refers to both changing the area of knowledge or the university and occurs most frequently in engineering, experimental sciences and social sciences degrees. The profile of the student who transfers is male, does not balance paid employment with studying, has completed baccalaureate in a private or a state-funded private school, and is upper middle class with both parents with a higher-level education working in higher management positions or liberal occupations. His level of use of social networks and digital communication tools is very high.