Affirmative Action and University Fit: Evidence from Proposition 209. CEP Discussion Paper No. 1224

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Affirmative Action; Admission Criteria; Public Colleges; Data Analysis; Student Records; Enrollment Trends; College Applicants; Graduation Rate; Statistical Distributions; Institutional Characteristics; Minority Group Students; State Legislation; Student Characteristics; Racial Distribution; Whites; Mathematical Formulas; Policy Analysis; School Holding Power; Academic Persistence; Student Placement; Prediction; School Policy

2042-2695

Proposition 209 banned the use of racial preferences in admissions at public colleges in California. We analyze unique data for all applicants and enrollees within the University of California (UC) system before and after Prop 209. After Prop 209, graduation rates increased by 4.4%. We present evidence that certain institutions are better at graduating more-prepared students while other institutions are better at graduating less-prepared students and that these matching effects are particularly important for the bottom tail of the qualification distribution. We find that Prop 209 led to a more efficient sorting of minority students and the sorting effects explain over 20% of the graduation rate increase. Further, universities appear to have responded to Prop 209 by investing more in their students, explaining between 30-45% of the graduation rate increase. An appendix contains: (1) Table 9: Characteristics of UC Applicants, Admits, and Enrollees by Race, Pre-Prop 209 and Change Post Prop 209; and (2) Table 10: Estimates Using the Baseline Method for Under-Represented Minorities, Whites and Asian Americans.

As Provided

2013

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