Academic Undermatching of High-Achieving Minority Students: Evidence from Race-Neutral and Holistic Admissions Policies
Sandra E. Black, Kalena E. Cortes, Jane Arnold Lincove
American Economic Review · 2015 · Volume 105 · Issue 5
Abstract
College is a pathway to social mobility in the United States. Yet too often high-achieving students from low-income and minorities families fail to apply to selective postsecondary institutions. Our study examines the extent to which academic undermatching occurs among high-achieving minority students by analyzing the application choices of students who undergo two distinct admissions policies. We find that minority students eligible for automatic admissions and those who undergo holistic admissions are both less likely to apply to elite flagship universities than white students, despite being equally qualified based on high school performance. Instead, minorities often opt for lower tier universities.
Keywords
Higher Education, Research Institutions, Education and Inequality, Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants, Non-labor Discrimination, Economic Sociology, Economic Anthropology, Social and Economic Stratification
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