Intercollegiate cooperation, an essential element of successful course articulation and student transfer, can be hindered by the inherent differences between two- and four-year institutions, such as their mission emphases, functional priorities, and preconceptions about the other. In 1986, a study was conducted of three community colleges in California to examine the extent to which relational networks (i.e., formal and informal interactions and agreements) with four-year institutions might affect transfer policies and rates, particularly for Hispanic students of Mexican American descent. Data on the colleges' structures and routines were gathered through interviews, on-site observations, document review, and student surveys. Hispanic versus non-Hispanic white student transfer rates at the three colleges chosen for the study were assessed as low (11% vs 18%), high (34% vs 39%), and discrepant (19% vs 43%), when compared to the systemwide transfer rate averages (20% for Hispanics vs 39% for non-Hispanic whites). Study findings included the following: (1) interviews with articulation officers revealed that four-year colleges seem to respond more favorably to curricular articulation with community colleges that have a higher student transfer record; (2) interviews also suggested that the transfer status of a two-year college may be perpetuated by the historical relationship in which the two-year college acts as a feeder school for certain four-year institutions; and (3) low-transfer community colleges have high minority enrollments suggesting that minorities have fewer options to transfer to four-year institutions than non-minority students attending schools with higher transfer rates. A 13-item bibliography is included. (PAA)