IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/win/winwop/2020-02.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Elite Universities, Program Capacities and the Student Admission Decision

Author

Listed:
  • Philippe Cyrenne

Abstract

A long standing matter of debate is the admission criteria used by elite universities and colleges for incoming students. This paper develops a relatively simple framework which allows for an analysis of a number of factors that might play a role in admissions. I find that a key choice variable for universities is their choice of program capacities, which has both a direct and indirect effect on an institution’s reputation. For some elite institutions, choosing to forego certain programs provides commitment value which enables it to avoid some of the enrollment controversies which have emerged in recent years.

Suggested Citation

  • Philippe Cyrenne, 2020. "Elite Universities, Program Capacities and the Student Admission Decision," Departmental Working Papers 2020-02, The University of Winnipeg, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:win:winwop:2020-02
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://economics.uwinnipeg.ca/RePEc/winwop/2020-02.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dennis L. Weisman & Dong Li, 2017. "Weeds in the Ivy: college admissions under preference constraints," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(3), pages 303-312, January.
    2. Pastine, Ivan & Pastine, Tuvana, 2012. "Student incentives and preferential treatment in college admissions," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 123-130.
    3. Jimmy Chan & Erik Eyster, 2003. "Does Banning Affirmative Action Lower College Student Quality?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(3), pages 858-872, June.
    4. Philippe Cyrenne & Hugh Grant, 2012. "Modeling the Optimization Problem of a Public University," Departmental Working Papers 2012-02, The University of Winnipeg, Department of Economics.
    5. Hurwitz, Michael, 2011. "The impact of legacy status on undergraduate admissions at elite colleges and universities," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 480-492, June.
    6. Li, Dong & Weisman, Dennis L., 2011. "Why preferences in college admissions may yield a more-able student body," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 724-728, August.
    7. Coates, Dennis & Humphreys, Brad R, 2002. "The Supply of University Enrollments: University Administrators as Utility Maximizing Bureaucrats," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 110(3-4), pages 365-392, March.
    8. Clotfelter, C. T., 2003. "Alumni giving to elite private colleges and universities," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 109-120, April.
    9. Gordon C. Winston, 1999. "Subsidies, Hierarchy and Peers: The Awkward Economics of Higher Education," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 13(1), pages 13-36, Winter.
    10. Niskanen, William A, 1975. "Bureaucrats and Politicians," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 18(3), pages 617-643, December.
    11. Qiang Fu, 2006. "A Theory of Affirmative Action in College Admissions," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 44(3), pages 420-428, July.
    12. Dickson, Lisa M., 2006. "Does ending affirmative action in college admissions lower the percent of minority students applying to college?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 109-119, February.
    13. Thomas J. Espenshade & Chang Y. Chung, 2005. "The Opportunity Cost of Admission Preferences at Elite Universities," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 86(2), pages 293-305, June.
    14. Charles T. Clotfelter, 1999. "The Familiar but Curious Economics of Higher Education: Introduction to a Symposium," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 13(1), pages 3-12, Winter.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dennis L. Weisman & Dong Li, 2017. "Weeds in the Ivy: college admissions under preference constraints," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(3), pages 303-312, January.
    2. Pastine, Ivan & Pastine, Tuvana, 2012. "Student incentives and preferential treatment in college admissions," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 123-130.
    3. Philippe Cyrenne & Hugh Grant, 2012. "Modeling the Optimization Problem of a Public University," Departmental Working Papers 2012-02, The University of Winnipeg, Department of Economics.
    4. Subhasish M. Chowdhury & Patricia Esteve‐González & Anwesha Mukherjee, 2023. "Heterogeneity, leveling the playing field, and affirmative action in contests," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 89(3), pages 924-974, January.
    5. David Welsch, 2012. "Affirmative Action in College Admission Decisions and the Distribution of Human Capital," Working Papers 12-02, UW-Whitewater, Department of Economics.
    6. Aaron Bodoh-Creed & Brent Hickman, 2016. "College Assignment as a Large Contest," Working Papers 2016-27, Becker Friedman Institute for Research In Economics.
    7. Li, Dong & Weisman, Dennis L., 2011. "Why preferences in college admissions may yield a more-able student body," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 724-728, August.
    8. Bodoh-Creed, Aaron L. & Hickman, Brent R., 2018. "College assignment as a large contest," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 175(C), pages 88-126.
    9. Clotfelter, C. T., 2003. "Alumni giving to elite private colleges and universities," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 109-120, April.
    10. Arcidiacono, Peter & Kinsler, Josh & Ransom, Tyler, 2022. "Asian American Discrimination in Harvard Admissions," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    11. Weisman, Dennis L., 2017. "How to integrate economic analysis into classroom discussions of diversity?," International Review of Economics Education, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 8-14.
    12. Andrew M. Francis & Maria Tannuri-Pianto, 2012. "Using Brazil’s Racial Continuum to Examine the Short-Term Effects of Affirmative Action in Higher Education," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 47(3), pages 754-784.
    13. Jörg Franke, 2007. "Does Affirmative Action Reduce Effort Incentives? A Contest Game Analysis," UFAE and IAE Working Papers 711.07, Unitat de Fonaments de l'Anàlisi Econòmica (UAB) and Institut d'Anàlisi Econòmica (CSIC).
    14. Hinrichs, Peter, 2014. "Affirmative action bans and college graduation rates," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 43-52.
    15. Marcela Ibanez & Gerhard Riener, 2018. "Sorting through Affirmative Action: Three Field Experiments in Colombia," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 36(2), pages 437-478.
    16. Yagan, Danny, 2016. "Supply vs. demand under an affirmative action ban: Estimates from UC law schools," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 38-50.
    17. Marisa Hidalgo Hidalgo & Guadalupe Valera Blanes, 2013. "University merging process," Working Papers. Serie AD 2013-01, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Económicas, S.A. (Ivie).
    18. Hidalgo-Hidalgo Marisa & Valera Guadalupe, 2016. "University Merging Process: A Guideline Proposal for Excellence-Enhancing," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 16(3), pages 1359-1386, September.
    19. Dahm, Matthias, 2018. "Semi-targeted all-pay auctions: A partial exclusion principle," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 256-282.
    20. Peter Arcidiacono & Michael Lovenheim, 2016. "Affirmative Action and the Quality-Fit Trade-Off," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 54(1), pages 3-51, March.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:win:winwop:2020-02. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Soham Baksi (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/dwinnca.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.