Working Paper: NBER ID: w17438
Authors: David J. Deming; Justine S. Hastings; Thomas J. Kane; Douglas O. Staiger
Abstract: We study the impact of a public school choice lottery in Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools on college enrollment and degree completion. We find a significant overall increase in college attainment among lottery winners who attend their first choice school. Using rich administrative data on peers, teachers, course offerings and other inputs, we show that the impacts of choice are strongly predicted by gains on several measures of school quality. Gains in attainment are concentrated among girls. Girls respond to attending a better school with higher grades and increases in college-preparatory course-taking, while boys do not.
Keywords: School Choice; School Quality; Postsecondary Attainment; College Enrollment; Lottery
JEL Codes: H4; I2; I21
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Attending higher quality schools (I23) | Higher GPAs (I23) |
| Attending higher quality schools (I23) | More college-level coursework (Y80) |
| Attending higher quality schools (I23) | More likely to take the SAT (C29) |
| Winning a lottery to attend a public high school in Charlotte-Mecklenburg (I24) | Larger gains in postsecondary attainment for lower quality schools (I24) |
| Winning a lottery to attend a public high school in Charlotte-Mecklenburg (I24) | College enrollment (I23) |
| Winning a lottery to attend a public high school in Charlotte-Mecklenburg (I24) | Degree completion (Y40) |
| Winning a lottery to attend a public high school in Charlotte-Mecklenburg (I24) | Higher degree completion for girls (I24) |