"Who Gets Their First Choice?" Race and Class Differences in College Admissions Outcomes

• In Event: Race, Merit, and Equity in College Admissions

Abstract

We examine a recent nationally representative sample of students to explore how student demographics are associated with the odds of being accepted to and/or enrolling in one’s first-choice college. While 84.17% of the students in the analytic sample were accepted to their first-choice college, 20.53% of those students chose not to enroll in first-choice college even after being accepted. Students’ SES quintile group, sex, and race, in particular, all appeared to have significant association with institutional control, selectivity, and level of their first-choice college. Despite assertions from critics of race-conscious admissions, Black, Latinx, and low-income students are less likely to be admitted to their first-choice college than comparable white students.

Authors

• Michael Bastedo, University of Michigan

• Sooji Kim, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor