This study provides a thorough examination of the experiences of a group of students who transferred from a public community college in the Midwest to a nearby public residential university between spring 1994 and spring 2001. The study population consisted of 552 students who transferred from the community college to the university with 12 or more semester credit hours. The researchers designated the 2 groups of students in the study persisters (386, or 67%) and non-persisters (184, or 33%). A total of 243 (44%) of the persisters had earned a bachelor's degree and 125 (23%) were still enrolled at the university by spring 2002. The non-persisters were no longer enrolled in the university during spring 2002. Women and whites were the majority in both groups. Almost all of the students in both groups had earned a high school diploma rather than a G.E.D. The majority of both groups attended the community college for 3 years or less, and most did not attend the community college full time. The study suggests that the 2-plus-2 paradigm is probably less realistic than a 3-plus-3, or 3 years at community college and three at university in order to earn a degree. Suggests that transfer centers need to be an intentional part of the community college's academic division. (Contains 13 references and 38 tables.) (NB)