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Admitting Students to Selective Education Programs: Merit, Profiling, and Affirmative Action

Author

Listed:
  • Dario Cestau
  • Dennis Epple
  • Holger Sieg

Abstract

Minority and disadvantaged students are typically underrepresented in selective programs that use merit-based admission. Urban school districts may set different referral and admission thresholds based on income and race (affirmative action), and they may exploit differences in achievement relative to ability across race and income groups (profiling). We develop and estimate a model that provides a unified treatment of affirmative action and profiling. We find profiling by race and income and affirmative action for low-income students. Counterfactual analysis reveals that these policies achieve more than 80 percent of African American enrollment that could be attained by race-based affirmative action.

Suggested Citation

  • Dario Cestau & Dennis Epple & Holger Sieg, 2017. "Admitting Students to Selective Education Programs: Merit, Profiling, and Affirmative Action," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 125(3), pages 761-797.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jpolec:doi:10.1086/691702
    DOI: 10.1086/691702
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    Cited by:

    1. Dario Cestau & Dennis Epple & Richard Romano & Holger Sieg & Carl Wojtaszek, 2020. "College Achievement and Attainment Gaps: Evidence from West Point Cadets," NBER Working Papers 27162, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Kartik B. Athreya & Felicia Ionescu & Urvi Neelakantan & Ivan Vidangos, 2020. "Who Values Access to College?," Richmond Fed Economic Brief, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, issue 20-03, pages 1-5, March.
    3. Glenn Ellison & Parag A. Pathak, 2021. "The Efficiency of Race-Neutral Alternatives to Race-Based Affirmative Action: Evidence from Chicago's Exam Schools," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 111(3), pages 943-975, March.
    4. Joshua Goodman & Dougherty, Shaun & Darryl Hill & Erica Litke & Lindsay Page, 2015. "Early Math Coursework and College Readiness: Evidence from Targeted Middle School Math Acceleration," Working Paper 283481, Harvard University OpenScholar.
    5. Dougherty, Shaun M. & Goodman, Joshua S. & Hill, Darryl V. & Litke, Erica G. & Page, Lindsay C., 2017. "Objective course placement and college readiness: Evidence from targeted middle school math acceleration," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 141-161.
    6. Kartik Athreya & Felicia Ionescu & Ivan Vidangos & Urvi Neelakantan, 2018. "Investment Opportunities and Economic Outcomes: Who Benefits From College and the Stock Market?," 2018 Meeting Papers 1151, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    7. Dennis Epple & Richard Romano & Holger Sieg, 2025. "A sharp characterization of equilibria in a tournament with performance and distinction standards," Economic Theory Bulletin, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 13(1), pages 125-143, April.
    8. Bleemer, Zachary, 2023. "Affirmative action and its race-neutral alternatives," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 220(C).
    9. Rajiv Sethi & Rohini Somanathan, 2023. "Meritocracy and Representation," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 61(3), pages 941-957, September.
    10. Bonin, Holger, 2017. "The Potential Economic Benefits of Education of Migrants in the EU," IZA Research Reports 75, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education

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