Ban the Discipline Box? How University Applications that Assess Prior School Discipline Experiences Relate to Admissions of Students Suspended in High School

For the past decade and a half, many institutions of higher education have asked about high school disciplinary experiences, including suspensions, on their applications. Advocates have argued that this “discipline box” has a negative effect on suspended students’ likelihood to apply and be accepted to institutions of higher education with such a box. This study leverages application-level data along with novel historical records of institutions’ undergraduate applications to examine the relationship between a discipline box and application and acceptances for suspended students. Leveraging both student and institution fixed effects, the study finds mixed evidence with regard to whether the presence of a discipline box is systematically related to students’ likelihood to apply or be accepted to IHEs with discipline boxes, once accounting for other factors. Implications for policy are discussed and suggestions for future research that can address existing data limitations are proposed.