College admissions in the U.S. is decentralized, with students applying separately to each school. This creates frictions in the college admissions process and, if substantial, might ultimately limit student choice. In this paper, we study the introduction of the Common Application (CA) platform, under which students submit a single application to…

This study explores why African American first-year students admitted to the University of California Davis decline their offer of admissions. The objective is to help the University successfully achieve their goal of supporting greater diversity and representation of students from historically underrepresented minority communities and…

Enrollments in postsecondary education have climbed steadily for more than 20 years. However, during this same time period, students enrolled in their school of first-choice in decreasing numbers. In fact, slightly more than 55% indicated they enrolled at their first-choice college in 2013 (Eagan, Lozano, Hurtado, & Case, 2013). Thus, more…

Today a college degree is considered the ticket to a good job and the gateway to economic advancement. A student's chances of gaining admission to college, however, are often based more on parental wealth than the student's achievements. At the nation's most selective colleges, three percent of incoming freshmen come from families in the bottom…