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Open Access

The Consequences of Academic Match between Students and Colleges

Eleanor Wiske Dillon and Jeffrey Andrew Smith
Journal of Human Resources, July 2020, 55 (3) 767-808; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3368/jhr.55.3.0818-9702R1
Eleanor Wiske Dillon
Eleanor Dillon is Visiting Assistant Professor at Amherst College. Jeffrey Smith is Paul T. Heyne Distinguished Chair in Economics and Richard Meese Chair in Applied Econometrics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and an affiliate of the NBER, IZA, CESifo, and HCEO.
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Jeffrey Andrew Smith
Eleanor Dillon is Visiting Assistant Professor at Amherst College. Jeffrey Smith is Paul T. Heyne Distinguished Chair in Economics and Richard Meese Chair in Applied Econometrics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and an affiliate of the NBER, IZA, CESifo, and HCEO.
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Abstract

We consider the effects of student ability, college quality, and the interaction between the two on academic outcomes and earnings, using data on two cohorts of college enrollees. Student ability and college quality strongly improve degree completion and earnings for all students. We find evidence of meaningful complementarity between student ability and college quality in degree completion at four years and in long-term earnings, but not in degree completion at six years or STEM degree completion. This complementarity implies some trade-off between equity and efficiency for policies that move lower-ability students to higher-quality colleges.

JEL Classification
  • I23
  • I26
  • J3
  • Received August 2018.
  • Accepted October 2018.

This open access article is distributed under the terms of the CC-BY- NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0) and is freely available online at: http://jhr.uwpress.org

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Journal of Human Resources: 55 (3)
Journal of Human Resources
Vol. 55, Issue 3
1 Jul 2020
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The Consequences of Academic Match between Students and Colleges
Eleanor Wiske Dillon, Jeffrey Andrew Smith
Journal of Human Resources Jul 2020, 55 (3) 767-808; DOI: 10.3368/jhr.55.3.0818-9702R1

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The Consequences of Academic Match between Students and Colleges
Eleanor Wiske Dillon, Jeffrey Andrew Smith
Journal of Human Resources Jul 2020, 55 (3) 767-808; DOI: 10.3368/jhr.55.3.0818-9702R1
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Keywords

  • I23
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