The Leaky College Pipeline: Evidence from Administrative Data in Uganda

Isaac Ahimbisibwe, Adrien Dautheville, Lenka Fiala, Saint Kizito Omala and Wayne Aaron Sandholtz

AEA Papers and Proceedings, 2026, vol. 116, 206-211

Abstract: We use linked administrative data from Uganda to track student progression from primary school through university scholarship admission, documenting large leaks in the education pipeline at every stage. Many high-performing students from poorer districts exit before upper secondary school, so the pool eligible for selective public university admission is highly socioeconomically stratified. Merit scholarships are heavily concentrated in a small number of elite secondary schools in the Kampala metropolitan area, implying that financial aid primarily rewards earlier advantages. The results highlight that tertiary merit aid alone cannot equalize access without upstream reforms to broaden basic and secondary education access.

JEL-codes: H52 I21 I23 I28 O15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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DOI: 10.1257/pandp.20261032

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