What Happens After Enrollment? An Analysis of the Time Path of Racial Differences in GPA and Major Choice! (original) (raw)
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Race, income, and enrollment patterns in highly selective colleges, 1982-2004
2012
Attending one of the most selective colleges provides even larger benefits for students. While in general higher education provides real and impressive economic benefits for U.S. adults, the U.S. higher education system is enormously diverse and highly stratified. Not all college degrees are the same; nor do all provide the same economic returns. Often conceptualized as a pyramid, the U.S. higher education system consists of many low-status, broad-access institutions at the bottom and fewer high-status, narrow-access universities at the top. Students who attend the few elite schools at the top of the hierarchy enjoy larger tuition subsidies, disproportionately extensive resources, and more focused faculty attention (Hoxby, 2009). Not surprisingly, the economic benefits (such as future earnings) of attending more selective schools are impressive. A number of sophisticated studies have examined the relationship between college selectivity and future earnings. These studies, employing techniques for estimating causal relationships such as instrumental variables (e.g. Long, 2007), matching (e.g. Dale and Krueger, 2001; Black and Smith, 2004), and regression discontinuity (e.g. Hoekstra, 2009), have all found similar results: students who attend higher quality colleges have better labor market outcomes. The potential for these substantial benefits are not lost on students. As college enrollment rates have grown, where (as opposed to if) a student attends college has become increasingly important. Over the past forty years, students have become more willing to travel long distances to
2017
This paper simulates a system of socioeconomic status (SES)−based affirmative action in college admissions and examines the extent to which it can produce racial diversity in selective colleges. Using simulation models, we investigate the potential relative effects of race-and/or SES-based affirmative action policies, alongside targeted, race-based recruitment, on the racial and socioeconomic distribution of students in colleges. These simulations suggest three important patterns: (1) neither SES-based affirmative action nor race recruiting policies on their own can reproduce levels of racial diversity achieved by race-based affirmative action; however, SES-based affirmative action in combination with targeted recruitment, although likely expensive, shows the potential to yield racial diversity levels comparable to race-based affirmative action; (b) the use of affirmative action policies by some colleges reduces the diversity of similar-quality colleges that do not have such policies; (c) overall, the combination of SES-based affirmative action and race recruiting results in slightly fewer Black and Hispanic students that are academically overmatched than under race-based affirmative action, but the schools that use the combination policy also see an overall reduction in the academic achievement of the students they enroll.
2000
This study examined the extent to which racial and ethnic preferences were used in the admissions policies of Maryland's four-year public colleges and universities. Ten institutions provided data on,in-state enrollees (race, sex, and SAT scores). Data analysis indicated that white in-state enrollees on average had substantially higher SAT scores compared to black in-state enrollees. At most schools, the SAT math score gap between blacks and whites was large, and the verbal score gap was moderate or large. There was less of a systematic pattern regarding white-Hispanic and white-Asian test score differences, though the former gaps were greater and more common than the latter. Especially at large institutions, the greater gaps between groups were mirrored in lower graduation rates for minorities. Blacks were subject to remediation at a greater rate than members of other racial and ethnic groups, and the disparities in remediation rates were generally related to gaps in enrollee test scores. Remediation, however, did not close the gap with respect to the rate of retention. (SM) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document.
DIVERGENT STREAMS Race-Gender Achievement Gaps at Selective Colleges and Universities
2010
In this paper, we extend previous research on racial performance gaps at 28 selective US colleges and universities by examining differences in grade achievement and graduate rates across racegender categories. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Freshmen, we show that black males, black females, and Hispanic males attain significantly lower grades than other racegender groups, and that black males are 35% less likely to graduate on-time than other race-gender groups. Analyses consider an array of personal and institutional indicators of academic performance. Grades and graduation rates are improved by academic preparation (particularly high school GPA), scholarly effort, and, for graduation rates, membership in career-oriented or majority-white campus groups. Grade performance and graduation rates are undermined by a hostile racial climate on campus, family stress, and stereotype threat, all of which disproportionately affect minority students. We conclude with recommendations to college administrators for ways of selecting and supporting minority students to reduce differentials in academic achievement across race-gender groups. Prior to 1960, the vast majority of students attending selective colleges and universities in the United States were whites of European origin. This fact reflected American demography at the time, as before that date 86% of all Americans were non-Hispanic whites; but it also stemmed from active exclusion and discrimination against minorities. As late as the 1960s, more than two-thirds of all whites supported racial segregation in schools (Schuman et al., 1998). However, both demography and beliefs changed radically in the United States during the latter half of the 20 th century. The civil rights movement successfully transformed racial attitudes, and a resurgence of immigration altered U.S. population composition. By 2000 only 4% of white Americans supported racial segregation in schools, and the share of non-Hispanic whites in the population had fallen to 68%. Among those aged 18 and under, only 60% were non-Hispanic whites, compared with 17% Latinos, 15% African Americans, 4% Asians, and 1% Native Americans. Clearly, the future of the United States is one of considerable racial and ethnic diversity. As formerly under-represented minorities entered into elite domains of higher education during the 1970s and 1980s, the fortunes of various racial and ethnic groups diverged. In terms of grades and graduation rates, Asians generally performed as well or better than whites whereas African Americans and Hispanics lagged significantly behind (Bowen and Bok, 1998; Bowen et al., 2009). These performance differentials partly reflect longstanding socioeconomic differences between groups, which correspond to significant differences in access to various forms of capital-human and financial capital, of course, but also social and cultural capital (Massey et al., 2003
Social Science Quarterly, 2016
Objective. This research examines the factors influencing the reverse gender gap in college enrollment between Black men and women and compares them to the factors affecting the gender gap between Whites. Methods. We use data from the National Educational Longitudinal Study (NELS) and logistic regression to address our research questions. Findings. The results reveal that Black male students fare worse than all other race-gender groups on virtually all predictors of college enrollment. The strongest determinant of the Black gender gap proved to be the lower academic performance of Black male students. In addition, our results support the hypothesis that returns on academic, social, and family economic characteristics differ along race and gender lines, though the strongest differences in returns appear to be between racial groups rather than between men and women of the same race. Blacks benefit less from higher GPAs, positive peer influences, and parental economic resources than Whites, though Black women benefit least from positive peer influences than any other race-gender group. Conclusions. In order to improve rates of college enrollment among Black males, policymakers should develop strategies to improve their academic performance. However, policymakers must also recognize that academic performance offers less payoff for Black students and must therefore find ways to equalize these returns for them.
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2007
Using eighteen years of data from more than 1,300 four-year colleges and universities in the United States, we investigate the extent to which institutional characteristics and contextual factors influence the propensity of colleges to indicate that they consider race/ethnicity in their admissions decisions. Consideration of race/ethnicity in admissions declined sharply after the mid-1990s, especially at public institutions. Rather than being shaped by specific historical and political contexts, consideration of race/ethnicity in admissions appears to be a widely institutionalized practice in higher education that has been tempered by changes in the policy environment over time.
This research investigates the college destinations of students from different racial/ethnic groups in the United States. Utilizing the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002 and Barron's Profiles of American Colleges, the study finds that black and Latino students are significantly less likely than are white students to attend all types of institutions. For 2 year and nonselective 4-year college enrollment, this race effect is explained by socioeconomic background and high school achievement. For selective college enrollment, precollege achievement primarily explained the race effect. Overall, race achievement gap during high school strongly predicted the race gap in college enrollment. Low socioeconomic background of black and Latino students also explained their disadvantages in 4-year colleges and universities.
Math-oriented fields of study and the race gap in graduation likelihoods at elite colleges
Social Science Research, 2016
This study examines the relationship between chosen field of study and the race gap in college completion among students at elite colleges. Fields of study are characterized by varying institutional arrangements, which impact the academic performance of students in higher education. If the effect of fields on graduation likelihoods is unequal across racial groups, then this may account for part of the overall race gap in college completion. Results from a large sample of students attending elite colleges confirm that fields of study influence the graduation likelihoods of all students, above and beyond factors such as students' academic and social backgrounds. This effect, however, is asymmetrical: relative to white students, the negative effect of the institutional arrangements of math-oriented fields on graduation likelihood is greater for black students. Therefore, the race gap is larger within math-oriented fields than in other fields, which contributes to the overall race gap in graduation likelihoods at these selective colleges. These results indicate that a nontrivial share of the race gap in college completion is generated after matriculation, by the environments that students encounter in college. Consequently, policy interventions that target field of study environments can substantially mitigate racial disparities in college graduation rates.