Abstract
In this paper we consider the role of community colleges for four-year STEM students as they move through their educational careers. We examine a student cohort who began their freshman year at a four-year college and the pathways that lead them to coursetaking or degrees at a community college. We identify three distinct roles of community colleges as used by four-year college students: (1) reverse transfer; (2) supplemental course taking while pursuing a four-year degree; (3) post-graduate community college coursetaking and/or enrollment. There are other variations on these three basic patterns but limited data and sample size constrain our analysis to these broader patterns