This paper uses the National Pupil Database to explore how grammar school opportunities vary among pupil groups, and how grammar school opportunities correlate with the Local Authorities (LAs), pupil backgrounds and attainment. The results show that grammar school admission is relatively fair, based on its selection criterion, but there is no…

Since 2014, the District of Columbia has used an annual common application to place new students from prekindergarten for 3-year-olds (PK3) through 12th grade in DC Public Schools (DCPS) and DC public charter schools. Though K-12 students have the right to attend their in-boundary school, this policy does not extend to students in PK3 or PK4…

Despite limiting access to applicants from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, the practice of using hard or soft Graduate Record Examination (GRE) cutoff scores in physics graduate program admissions is still a popular method for reducing the pool of applicants. The present study considers whether the undergraduate institutions of…

As scholars of higher education regularly point out, American universities face a fundamental tension between access and exclusion. On the one hand, as publicly supported institutions operating in a democracy, they are charged with promoting social mobility and sharing knowledge that can improve society. On the other, they are tasked with…

This paper analyses the role that different components of the academic strength of the secondary-school curriculum (i.e. "number," "subjects" and "grades" of advanced academic courses) play in explaining social origin differences in access to prestigious universities (but also to other higher education institutions)…

This study examines how Swedish students originating from metropolitan areas have used university colleges to access higher education. In the 1970s, as part of a series of reforms to the Swedish higher education system, university colleges were established. One reason being to make higher education more accessible to students outside the…

For far too long, the United States has neglected and wasted an enormous amount of human potential--much of it among groups that have never been given the opportunities they deserve. We're talking about bright students, advanced learners, striving pupils, and those with high but untapped potential--especially those who are Black, Hispanic, Native…

Despite many periods and methods of resistance, inequality in access to higher education persists. Power has been established as inherent to issues of inequality and as such, any research on inequality is by extension an inquiry into power relations. Yet, there remains a dearth of literature that explicity addresses power and its relationship to…

Public flagship universities are often the most selective, rigorous, and well-resourced public schools in each state, and their important status and name recognition play an important role in raising the college-going aspirations of state residents. Flagships are well-positioned to promote social and economic mobility. However, increasingly high…

This paper demonstrates that increasing income inequality can contribute to the trends we see in American higher education, particularly in the selective, private nonprofit and public sectors. Given these institutions' selective admissions and commitment to socioeconomic diversity, the paper demonstrates how increasing income inequality leads to…

Using proprietary data collected prior to the establishment of the public Universal Prekindergarten program in New York City, this study finds statistically significant differences in test-taking rates for the city's Gifted & Talented (G & T) program between two matched samples of students--those who attended a public prekindergarten…

China's Free Teacher Education Policy (FTEP) was initiated in 2007 in response to concerns about university tuition increases and teacher shortages in rural provinces. In this paper, the authors draw on interview data from eight FTEP graduates/teaching candidates and eight teacher educators from five FTEP universities to examine the extent to…

Subtle policy adjustments can induce relatively large "ripple effects." We evaluate a College Board initiative that increased the number of free SAT score reports available to low-income students and changed the time horizon for using these score reports. Using a difference-in-differences analytic strategy, we estimate that targeted…

If America's public colleges and universities are supposed to be true democratic engines of opportunity and social mobility, their student body and graduates should at least mirror the racial and ethnic demographics of the state in which they reside. Public institutions should reduce -- rather than exacerbate -- race-based inequalities and advance…

The quota system and the catchment areas are federal government policies formulated to bridge the gap between the educationally developed states and the educationally less developed states. Sequel to the enactment of these policies, government established several universities across the country to create equal opportunity for all candidates. In…