College students' strategies to discriminate relevant from irrelevant information in algebra story problems were identified and compared to strategies used by younger students in previous studies. College students identified numbers relevant for solution (Experiment 1) or provided verbal reports as they computed answers (Experiment 2). Type of information examined, sequence and duration of examination, and verbal reports were analyzed. College students' strategies were similar to those of younger students (using specific semantic features, using the question, discriminating during reading, rereading, transitional strategies). Students used multiple strategies across problems. Multiple strategies within a single problem occurred more frequently on problems with transitional strategies. An exploratory analysis indicated that students were aware of their strategies and consistently monitored and evaluated their strategic processing.