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  3. American Economic Review
  4. March 2014
  5. School Choice, School Quality, and Postsecondary Attainment

School Choice, School Quality, and Postsecondary Attainment

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Abstract

We study the impact of a public school choice lottery in Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools on college enrollment and degree completion. We find a significant overall increase in college attainment among lottery winners who attend their first choice school. Using rich administrative data on peers, teachers, course offerings and other inputs, we show that the impacts of choice are strongly predicted by gains on several measures of school quality. Gains in attainment are concentrated among girls. Girls respond to attending a better school with higher grades and increases in college-preparatory course-taking, while boys do not.

Citation

Deming, David J., Justine S. Hastings, Thomas J. Kane, and Douglas O. Staiger. 2014. "School Choice, School Quality, and Postsecondary Attainment." American Economic Review, 104 (3): 991-1013. DOI: 10.1257/aer.104.3.991

Additional Materials

JEL Classification

  • D44 Auctions
  • H75 State and Local Government: Health; Education; Welfare; Public Pensions
  • I21 Analysis of Education
  • I23 Higher Education; Research Institutions
  • J16 Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination