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Centralized Admissions, Affirmative Action, and Access of Low-Income Students to Higher Education

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  • Ursula Mello

Abstract

I analyze how two reforms, introduced to expand college access in Brazil, impacted enrollments of low-SES students. The first policy centralized applications in a nationwide platform (SISU), and the second expanded affirmative action quotas (AA) to a uniform share of 50 percent of vacancies offered by degree. Results show that SISU changes enrollment decisions of high-SES students, crowding out low-SES groups from the least competitive degrees disproportionately. In contrast, AA increases enrollments of low-SES individuals not only mechanically but also through behavioral responses. Finally, their interaction creates a complementary effect, protecting the low-SES groups from the crowding-out of centralization.

Suggested Citation

  • Ursula Mello, 2022. "Centralized Admissions, Affirmative Action, and Access of Low-Income Students to Higher Education," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 14(3), pages 166-197, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aejpol:v:14:y:2022:i:3:p:166-97
    DOI: 10.1257/pol.20190639
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Duryea, Suzanne & Ribas, Rafael P. & Sampaio, Breno & Sampaio, Gustavo R. & Trevisan, Giuseppe, 2023. "Who benefits from tuition-free, top-quality universities? Evidence from Brazil," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    2. Bleemer, Zachary, 2023. "Affirmative action and its race-neutral alternatives," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 220(C).
    3. Cecilia Machado & Germán Reyes & Evan Riehl, 2023. "The Efficacy of Large-Scale Affirmative Action at Elite Universities," CEDLAS, Working Papers 0311, CEDLAS, Universidad Nacional de La Plata.
    4. Luiz Brotherhood & Bernard Herskovic & Joao Ramos, 2022. "Income-based affirmative action in college admissions," UB School of Economics Working Papers 2022/425, University of Barcelona School of Economics.
    5. Shabir Hussain Khahro & Yasir Javed, 2022. "Key Challenges in 21st Century Learning: A Way Forward towards Sustainable Higher Educational Institutions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-19, December.
    6. Cecilia Machado & Germ'an Reyes & Evan Riehl, 2023. "The Direct and Spillover Effects of Large-scale Affirmative Action at an Elite Brazilian University," Papers 2305.02513, arXiv.org, revised Jun 2023.
    7. Mello, Ursula, 2023. "Affirmative action and the choice of schools," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 219(C).
    8. Najam, Rafiuddin, 2024. "Closing the gap: Effect of a gender quota on women’s access to education in Afghanistan," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

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