Onuma, Felicia JamesThe purpose of this study was to investigate the college destination process of Nigerian immigrant-origin students attending private elite colleges and universities and the role, if any, that social class played in the process. To date, several empirical and non-empirical publications have called attention to the overrepresentation of Black immigrant students, particularly those of Nigerian ancestry, at the nation’s most elite institutions of higher education. However, very little is known about the decisions and actions that lead to their matriculation at these schools and the extent to which their college destination processes are informed by social class. The current study sought to address this gap in the literature. The frameworks that guided this study were Radford’s (2013) college destination process framework and Lee and Zhou’s (2015) cultural frames analytical model. This study employed a collective instrumental embedded case study design and included five cases. Each case or unit of analysis comprised a Nigerian immigrant-origin student attending a private elite college and their parent. Consistent with case study methodology, data were collected for the study through multiple methods including demographic questionnaires and semi-structured individual interviews. Findings from this study affirm the influence of social class—or structural circumstances produced by hyper-selective immigration—on the educational outcomes of Nigerian immigrant-origin students. Raised by college-educated parents, some of whom also received post-graduate training, students internalized college education as essential. Beyond serving as role models, parents also intentionally wielded their human and financial capital to provide their children with the quality of education and experiences needed to be competitive for admission to highly-ranked colleges and universities. Outside of their immediate families, students were exposed to youth and adults in their local Nigerian immigrant communities who also helped to set the academic standard to which they were held. Ultimately, students’ predispositions toward college attendance and elite colleges and universities influenced their exploration, application, and matriculation decisions. Equally importantly, the quality of their high school preparation played a key role in their ability to gain admission to their elite colleges of interest and final postsecondary destinations which for three students was Harvard and two students, Yale.enDissertationHigher educationEducational sociologycollege destination processhyperselective immigrationIvy LeagueNigerian immigrant studentsoverrepresentationsocial class