Present participle

Hello Sir,

I want to ask you one question about the present participle(going to) used in the paragraph below. Would you be able to make me understand the use of present participle (going to) in the paragraph below and rephrase the sentence?

Obama graduated from high school from a very good, expensive private high school in Honolulu in 1979. He later came to Los Angeles for two years, studying at a college called Occidental, a small private college here in L.A. After two years, he transferred – he moved universities – going to one of the better universities in the U.S., Columbia University in New York City in 1983.

Thanks in advance