Anecdotal evidence suggests widespread discrimination against community college transfer students, despite their prevalence among bachelor’s degree holders in the US. I send out fictitious job applications and conduct a labor market audit study to examine such discrimination. All applicants have bachelor’s degrees, and a random subset are transfer students who attended community colleges for their first two years of college. I find that, for accounting jobs, community college experience significantly reduces callback rates and undermines the value of graduating from selective four-year colleges. In comparison, sales and marketing firms do not exhibit signs of discrimination.

轶事证据表明，尽管社区大学转学生在美国的学士学位持有者中普遍存在，但他们仍普遍受到歧视。我发出虚假的工作申请并进行劳动力市场审计研究来检查这种歧视。所有申请者都拥有学士学位，随机的一部分是在大学前两年就读社区大学的转学生。我发现，对于会计工作来说，社区大学的经历会显着降低回调率，并削弱从选择性四年制大学毕业的价值。相比之下，销售和营销公司没有表现出歧视的迹象。