Centralized Admissions, Affirmative Action, and Access of Low-Income Students to Higher Education
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Abstract
I analyze how two reforms, introduced to expand college access in Brazil, impacted enrollments of low-SES students. The first policy centralized applications in a nationwide platform (SISU), and the second expanded affirmative action quotas (AA) to a uniform share of 50 percent of vacancies offered by degree. Results show that SISU changes enrollment decisions of high-SES students, crowding out low-SES groups from the least competitive degrees disproportionately. In contrast, AA increases enrollments of low-SES individuals not only mechanically but also through behavioral responses. Finally, their interaction creates a complementary effect, protecting the low-SES groups from the crowding-out of centralization.Citation
Mello, Ursula. 2022. "Centralized Admissions, Affirmative Action, and Access of Low-Income Students to Higher Education." American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 14 (3): 166-97. DOI: 10.1257/pol.20190639Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- I23 Higher Education; Research Institutions
- I24 Education and Inequality
- I28 Education: Government Policy
- O15 Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
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