Understanding Discrimination in College Admissions: A Field Experiment

We examine the extent and mechanisms by which race affects the college admissions process. We provide evidence from a field experiment where fictitious applicants request application fee waivers from all university admissions counselors in the United States. White applicants are much more likely to receive a waiver, be informed that the application is free, or receive a request for more information than Black or Asian applicants. Our results contrast sharply with previous evidence from acceptance decisions showing bias in favor of Black applicants. We introduce a model of university pricing and use information from counselors' LinkedIn and university profiles, along with university characteristics, to test predictions. We find evidence consistent with agent-taste-based discrimination, where biases stem from counselors' preferences, and profit-maximizing statistical discrimination. Discrimination in university admissions can vary substantially based on the context in which decisions are made.