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Assessing the Impact of Eliminating Affirmative Action in Higher Education

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  • Jessica S. Howell

Abstract

This research examines the determinants of the match between high school seniors and postsecondary institutions in the United States. I model college application decisions as a nonsequential search problem and specify a unified structural model of college application, admission, and matriculation decisions that are all functions of unobservable individual heterogeneity. The results indicate that black and Hispanic representation at all 4-year colleges is predicted to decline modestly-by 2%-if race-neutral college admissions policies are mandated nationwide. However, race-neutral admissions are predicted to decrease minority representation at the most selective 4-year institutions by 10%. (c) 2010 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.

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  • Jessica S. Howell, 2010. "Assessing the Impact of Eliminating Affirmative Action in Higher Education," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 28(1), pages 113-166, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jlabec:v:28:y:2010:i:1:p:113-166
    DOI: 10.1086/648415
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