Opportunity Bound: Transport and Access to College in a Megacity

Access to safe and reliable transportation is a critical yet understudied determinant of college enrollment, particularly in low- and middle-income countries where commuting is the norm for students and infrastructure often falls short. This paper examines the effects of major public transit expansions in Lima, Peru—specifically a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system and an elevated metro line—on college enrollment and institutional choices. Leveraging a novel geocoded dataset and a staggered difference-in-differences strategy that compares neighborhoods that gained access to those exposed to planned-but-not-executed lines, I find that improved connectivity increases college enrollment. However, this expansion disproportionately boosts enrollment in lower-quality institutions, especially among women. In contrast, men become more likely to enroll in public colleges, which typically yield in higher post-graduation wages. A college choice model further shows that women are less responsive to potential earnings gains and more sensitive to commuting burdens. These findings underscore that while transit improvements expand access to higher education, gender-specific mobility constraints shape who benefits and how.