Race, income, and enrollment patterns in highly selective colleges, 1982-2004

Where a student attends college has become increasingly important in the last few decades. As education has grown significantly more important in the labor market, competition among students for access to the most selective colleges and universities has grown as well. In this report, the authors examine patterns of enrollment, by race and family income, in the most selective colleges and universities. They also simulate racial and socioeconomic patterns of admission to selective colleges under several types of “race-blind” admissions policies, including policies like the Top Ten Percent admissions policy currently in use in Texas and a similar policy in California.