Lasting Effects of Retaking College Admission Exams

Veronica Frisancho, Sebastian Gallegos and Constanza González
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Constanza González: Universidad Adolfo Ibañez

No 2026-004, Working Papers from Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group

Abstract: Do second chances at a high-stakes admission exam yield long-term gains? Leveraging fifteen years of Chilean administrative data and an RDD, we examine the causal effects of retaking on educational and labor market trajectories. Narrowly missing a preferred program cutoff triggers a 44% increase in retaking, leading to substantial score gains (0.27 SD) and improved placement and enrollment chances. However, these immediate gains do not persist. Retakers graduate at the same rate and from programs with similar earnings and employability profiles as their counterfactual peers. Our results suggest that retaking serves as a reshuffling mechanism yielding null net welfare gains.

Keywords: high-stakes exams; developing countries; Latin America; educational policy; college enrollment; college graduation; college choice (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I24 I25 I28 J62 N36 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu and nep-lam
Note: MIP
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http://humcap.uchicago.edu/RePEc/hka/wpaper/Frisan ... ts-college-exams.pdf First version, March 10, 2026 (application/pdf)

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Working Paper: Lasting Effects of Retaking College Admission Exams (2026)
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