I conduct a series of analyses aimed at assessing equity in selective American colleges over a 20+ year time frame. My main measures of equity are enrollment and completion in selective colleges, which I disaggregate by race/ethnicity. After creating an institutional-level panel data set with variables on college revenues and expenses, tuition,…

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between race/ethnicity and the college degree attainment of underrepresented racial minority (URM) students receiving a merit-aid scholarship. Using an institutional database from a highly selective public university, multiple statistical techniques were conducted to examine how degree…

This dissertation is a collection of three essays in Public Economics. The first chapter studies the optimal design of student loans as a lever to foster the inclusion of poor students in private colleges in Brazil. The second chapter delves into understanding the consequences of affirmative action as a tool to increase the participation of…

Education is the value proposition that provides individuals the opportunity to become meaningful contributors to society, their community, and their immediate families. It is the calling card of personal achievement and individual intrinsic benefits. Education is about access and opportunity. Institutions continue to navigate strategies of access…

This dissertation illustrates how admission policies shape access to postsecondary education. Evidence comes from two sectors, each with a distinct type of admission system: highly selective institutions that practice holistic admission (chapters 2 and 3) and less selective public four-year colleges that use admission thresholds (chapter 4). The…

Relatively few students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds are enrolled in the most selective American colleges and universities. To improve enrollment, scholars have suggested that college admission offices provide these low SES students an admissions advantage, also known as class-based affirmative action. This study examined to what degree…

Despite the vast research on African Americans and affirmative action, little qualitative analysis has been done to investigate how race exists and functions in American law schools. This dissertation researches the ways in which race is constructed, deconstructed, and reconstructed within two American law schools. Three primary lenses guide this…

Litigation against colleges and universities has prompted the need to re-examine the legalities of the means by which they strive for a diverse student population. Court decisions have resulted in mixed signals about the use of various types of affirmative action policies. This study' method presented an analysis of archival data to provide a…

Despite the precedent established in the "University of California Board of Regents v. Bakke," that race may be used as a factor in admissions policies at state institutions of higher education, state and federal court decisions were divided over whether the use of race in admissions decisions was a violation of the Equal Protection…

Over the past several decades, affirmative action has become a widely-debated issue in higher education. According to research, race-sensitive admissions policies engender significant advantages for students of all racial backgrounds, yet critics claim that these benefits are matched by significant costs--particularly in terms of minority student…