Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP14747
Authors: Judith Delaney; Paul J Devereux
Abstract: We use administrative data from Ireland to study differences in college application behaviorbetween students from disadvantaged versus advantaged high schools. Ireland provides aninteresting laboratory for this analysis as applicants provide a preference-ordering of collegeprograms (majors) and marginal applications are costless. Also, college admission dependsalmost completely on grades in the terminal high school examinations. Thus, we can comparethe application choices of students who have equal chances of admission to college programs.Conditional on achievement and college opportunities, we find that students from advantagedhigh schools are more likely to apply to universities and to more selective college programs.They are also more likely to have preferences that cluster by program selectivity rather thanby field of study. Our results suggest that, alongside differences in achievement, differencesin college application behavior also cause persons from advantaged high schools to be morelikely to enroll in selective colleges and enter more selective programs. Importantly, we findthat enrollment gaps for equally qualified applicants are smaller than differences inapplication behavior; the relatively meritocratic centralized admissions system based onachievement undoes much of the effect of the differences in application behavior.
Keywords: college applications; centralized admissions system; college major choice; higher education; educational mismatch
JEL Codes: I24; J24
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Students from advantaged high schools (I24) | More likely to apply to universities and selective college programs (I23) |
| More likely to apply to universities and selective college programs (I23) | Higher likelihood of enrollment in selective colleges (I23) |
| Differences in college application behavior (I23) | Enrollment gaps between students from different school types (I24) |
| Centralized admissions system based on achievement (I24) | Mitigates differences in application behavior (L15) |