Affirmative Action in Undergraduate Education

Peter Arcidiacono (), Michael Lovenheim and Maria Zhu
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Peter Arcidiacono: Department of Economics, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708

Annual Review of Economics, 2015, vol. 7, issue 1, 487-518

Abstract: The use of race in college admissions is one of the most contentious issues in US higher education. We survey the literature on the impact of racial preferences in college admissions on both minority and majority students. With regard to minority students, particular attention is paid to the scope of preferences as well as how preferences affect graduation, choice of major, and labor market earnings. We also examine how schools respond to bans on racial preferences and the effects these responses have on racial diversity at elite schools. With regard to majority students, we examine the evidence on the returns to attending a more racially diverse school, as well as how racial preferences affect friendship formation. Finally, we supplement studies of affirmative action in the United States with evidence from India, which provides a much more straightforward environment in which to study affirmative action owing to the use of quotas and admissions rules based solely on exam scores.

Keywords: higher education; race; college quality; college admissions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I23 I24 J15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (17)

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