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Can you leave high school behind?

Author

Listed:
  • Black, Sandra E.
  • Lincove, Jane
  • Cullinane, Jennifer
  • Veron, Rachel

Abstract

In recent years, many states, including California, Texas, and Oregon, have changed admissions policies to increase access to public universities for students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. A key concern, however, is how these students will perform. This paper examines the relationship between high school quality and student success in college. Using administrative data from the University of Texas at Austin, we take advantage of the unique policy environment provided by Texas's Top 10% automatic admissions law, which has not only increased the diversity of high schools in the state that send students to the university, but also provides an admission criteria based on a sole observable characteristic: high school class rank. We find that high school characteristics do affect student performance, and these effects seem more pronounced for women and low-income students. In addition, there is little evidence that the effects of high school characteristics decay over students’ time in college.

Suggested Citation

  • Black, Sandra E. & Lincove, Jane & Cullinane, Jennifer & Veron, Rachel, 2015. "Can you leave high school behind?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 52-63.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:46:y:2015:i:c:p:52-63
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2015.02.003
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    3. Lisa Meehan & Gail Pacheco & Zoe Pushon, 2017. "Explaining ethnic disparities in bachelor’s degree participation: Evidence from NZ," Working Papers 2017-03, Auckland University of Technology, Department of Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    High school quality; Higher education access; College outcomes;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education

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