Trending Topic Research File
Who is applying to college, who gets in, where do students decide to go, and how to make the process fair and equitable are among some of the biggest questions facing higher education leaders, students and families, and policymakers.
The following compendium of open-access articles are inclusive of all substantive AERA journal content regarding college admissions and enrollment published since 2019. This page will be updated as new articles are published.
Note: Articles are listed below in reverse chronological order of publication.
Mathematics Specialization at High School and Undergraduate Degree Choice: Evidence From England Greta Morando Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, July 2024 Researchers found that the reform increased the likelihood of students pursuing and completing STEM undergraduate degrees. Thus, encouraging mathematics specialization during high school enhances the number of STEM graduates.
Inside the Black Box: Detecting and Mitigating Algorithmic Bias Across Racialized Groups in College Student-Success Prediction Denisa Gándara, Hadis Anahideh, Matthew P. Ison, Lorenzo Picchiarini AERA Open, July 2024 Researchers found that models incorporating commonly used features to predict college-student success are less accurate when predicting success for racially minoritized students.
Dually Noted: Examining the Implications of Dual Enrollment Course Structure for Students’ Course and College Enrollment Outcomes Wonsun Ryu, Lauren Schudde, Kimberly Pack-Cosme American Educational Research Journal, July 2024 Researchers found striking differences between academic and career and technical education DE, both in students’ backgrounds and course structures.
Banking on Dual Credit: Broadening Opportunities to Earn College Credit in High School and the Transition to College Nicole M. V. Ross, Steven W. Hemelt Educational Researcher, October 2023 Researchers found that barely passing a career and technical education dual-credit exam increases the likelihood of attending a public, in-state, 2-year institution, with at least part of that increased propensity stemming from a reduction in the likelihood of attending a private in-state institution.
Redefining Merit Through New Routines: Holistic Admissions Policy Implementation in Graduate Education Julie Posselt, Deborah Southern, Theresa Hernandez, Steve Desir, Fatima Alleyne, Casey W. Miller Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, October 2023 Researchers found that organizational transition to holistic admissions is multilevel, involving new policy/structural, practice/cultural, and cognitive/interpretive routines, which carry promise for disrupting institutionalized inequities where the politics of changing these routines can be managed.
Contextualized High School Performance: Evidence to Inform Equitable Holistic, Test-Optional, and Test-Free Admissions Policies Michael N. Bastedo, Mark Umbricht, Emma Bausch, Bo-Kyung Byun, Yiping Bai AERA Open, September 2023 Researchers found that contextualized indicators of high school grades and standardized tests are strongly associated with student success in college, validating their use in holistic admissions.
The Impact of Performance Funding Policy Design on College Access and Selectivity Kelly Rosinger, Justin Ortagus, Robert Kelchen, Junghee Choi Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, February 2023 Researchers found suggestive evidence that increases in the share of revenue at stake are associated with decreases in racially minoritized student enrollment. Meanwhile, equity metrics may not be enough to boost enrollment among underserved students.
The Uncertain Path Toward College: How Intersectionality Shaped the Experiences of Latinas Enrolled at a Hispanic-Serving Institution Ruth M. López, Maria L. Honey, Stephanie Rendon, Stephanie Pérez-Gill AERA Open, June 2022 Researchers found that multiple forms of oppression and social identities shaped the high school experiences of Latinas and learned how they found belonging at an HSI by finding spaces and individuals who validated their intersectionality.
Improving Racial Equity in Community College: Developing a Plan, Implementing the Vision Eric R. Felix Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, March 2021 Researchers found that key to equity planning was a critical mass of Latinx practitioners able to see the policy as an opportunity to tackle one of the greatest inequities on their campus, Latinx transfer.
Can Standardizing Applicant High School and Neighborhood Information Help to Diversify Selective Colleges? Zachary Mabel, Michael D. Hurwitz, Jessica Howell, Greg Perfetto Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, March 2022 Researchers found that the tool did not alter the probability of enrollment as a function of applicant challenge level in the full sample, but positive changes are concentrated among applicants to institutions that used the tool to allocate financial aid.
Sorting Machines: Digital Technology and Categorical Inequality in Education Matthew H. Rafalow, Cassidy Puckett Educational Researcher, January 2022 Reseachers found that educational resources, like digital technologies, are also sorted by schools.
What If We Leave It Up to Chance? Admissions Lotteries and Equitable Access at Selective Colleges Dominique J. Baker, Michael N. Bastedo Educational Researcher, November 2021 In the overwhelming majority of lottery simulations, the proportions of low-income students and students of color drop precipitously.
Asian Americans, Admissions, and College Choice: An Empirical Test of Claims of Harm Used in Federal Investigations Mike Hoa Nguyen, Connie Y. Chang, Victoria Kim, Rose Ann E. Gutierrez, Annie Le, Denis Dumas, Robert T. Teranishi Educational Researcher, August 2020 This study empirically tests the claims made by CAAA and AACE with particular attention to the differences in Asian American student outcomes, relative to their college admissions and choice decisions.
Disability Identification and Educational Accommodations: Lessons From the 2019 Admissions Scandal Benjamin J. Lovett Educational Researcher, January 2020 A widely publicized scandal involved students who obtained fraudulent diagnoses of learning disabilities in an effort to get accommodations on college admissions tests.
Missed Exams and Lost Opportunities: Who Could Gain From Expanded College Admission Testing? Emily E. Cook, Sarah Turner AERA Open, June 2019 Researchers found that universal testing in Virginia could increase the number of high school graduates with test scores competitive for admission at broad-access universities in the state by as much as 40%—and at the most selective institutions by nearly 20%—with larger increases for low-income students.
Pell Grant Versus Income Data in Postsecondary Research Kelly Ochs Rosinger, Karly S. Ford Educational Researcher, May 2019 Researchers demonstrated that Pell is a rough measure of low-income status and that without more detailed data on colleges’ economic diversity, policy evaluations focusing on existing Pell data will suffer from measurement error and potentially miss enrollment effects for moderate- and high-income students.
Improving Admission of Low-SES Students at Selective Colleges Michael N. Bastedo, Nicholas A. Bowman Educational Researcher, March 2017 Researchers found that admissions officers in the detailed-information condition were more likely to recommend admitting a low-SES applicant from an underserved high school than those in the limited-information condition, although the limited-information condition provided significant details about family SES and high school context.