Working Paper: NBER ID: w15272
Authors: John Bound; Brad Hershbein; Bridget Terry Long
Abstract: Gaining entrance to a four-year college or university, particularly a selective institution, has become increasingly competitive over the last several decades. We document this phenomenon and show how it has varied across different parts of the student ability distribution and across region, with the most pronounced increases in competition being found among higher-ability students and in the Northeast. Additionally, we explore how the college preparatory behavior of high school seniors has changed in response to the growth in competition. We also discuss the theoretical implications of increased competition on longer-term measures of learning and achievement and attempt to test them empirically; the evidence and related literature, while limited, suggests little long-term benefit.
Keywords: College Admissions; Competition; Student Behavior
JEL Codes: I21; J24
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Increased college competition (D29) | Increased investment in academic preparation (I23) |
| Increased college competition (D29) | Increased participation in advanced courses and extracurricular activities (I24) |
| Increased college competition (D29) | Increased percentage of students taking calculus and AP exams (C12) |
| Increased college competition (D29) | Decrease in productive study time (D29) |
| Increased college competition (D29) | Negative impact on educational outcomes (I24) |
| Increased college competition (D29) | Disproportionate benefit to higher-ability students (D29) |
| Increased college competition (D29) | Disadvantage to lower socio-economic background students (I24) |