High Schools and Students’ Initial Colleges and Majors

Rajeev Darolia and Cory Koedel

No 1609, Working Papers from Department of Economics, University of Missouri

Abstract: We use statewide administrative data from Missouri to examine the explanatory power of high schools over student sorting to colleges and majors at 4-year public universities. We develop a “preparation and persistence index” (PPI) for each university-by-major cell in the Missouri system that captures dimensions of selectivity and rigor and allows for a detailed investigation of sorting. Our analysis shows that students’ high schools predict the quality of the initial university, as measured by PPI, conditional on their own academic preparation, and that students from lower-SES high schools systematically enroll at lower-PPI universities. However, high schools offer little explanatory power over major placements within universities.

Keywords: College sorting; major sorting; effects of high schools; college mismatch; postsecondary sorting (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I23 I24 J24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 52 pgs.
Date: 2016-07, Revised 2017-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cse, nep-edu and nep-ure
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Journal Article: HIGH SCHOOLS AND STUDENTS' INITIAL COLLEGES AND MAJORS (2018)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:umc:wpaper:1609

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