Historical Perspectives on Racial Differences in Schooling in the United States

William Collins and Robert Margo

No 9770, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: African-Americans entered the post-Civil War era with extremely low levels of exposure to schooling. Relying primarily on micro-level census data, we describe racial differences in literacy rates, school attendance, years of educational attainment, age-in-grade distributions, spending per pupil, and returns to literacy since emancipation, with emphasis on the pre-1960 period. The overwhelming theme is one of educational convergence, despite overt discrimination for much of the period studied, and subject to several qualifications. We interpret this theme in light of a simple model of educational attainment.

JEL-codes: I2 J7 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2003-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ure
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Published as Collins, William J. & Margo, Robert A., 2006. "Historical Perspectives on Racial Differences in Schooling in the United States," Handbook of the Economics of Education, Elsevier.

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Chapter: Historical Perspectives on Racial Differences in Schooling in the United States (2006)
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