Navigating academic prestige: university choice and distinction of German upper milieu students

This article examines the relevance of different institutional levels in higher education for the educational strategies of upper milieu students in a case study conducted in Germany. Based on our analysis of 95 qualitative interviews with Masters students from different social backgrounds, we show how upper milieu students take advantage of the new vertical stratification in the German higher education system such as the emergence of ‘universities of excellence’, national rankings and ‘elitist’ degree programmes and networks. They also have more resources at their disposal to deal with the new complexity created by the current transformations in the field of higher education in Germany. Instead of referring to common schemes that distinguish between vertical and horizontal differentiation in higher education, we propose to focus on ‘academic prestige configurations’ in order to better understand contemporary processes of social differentiation and distinction between students. In this way, we aim to advance the empirical and theoretical discussion in higher education research on upper class students. The focus of our study is not solely on elite education, but rather on exploring the status reproduction of upper milieus through education.