Shi paper on selective education published in Economics of Education Review

Jan 31, 2020

Who Benefits from Selective Schools? Evidence from Elite Boarding School Admissions

Ying Shi

Economics of Education Review, January 2020

Ying Shi

Public Administration & International Affairs Department

Center for Policy Research

Education

Economics of Education Review

Ying Shi

Existing research finds minimal gains from attending elite U.S. secondary schools. This paper estimates the causal effect of attending a selective public boarding school, an institutional model increasingly used by states to serve academically gifted students. Regression discontinuity estimates using multiple admissions thresholds show math score gains and college application and enrollment patterns that shift away from less competitive colleges.

Effects are concentrated among minorities, students with lower prior individual achievement, from rural neighborhoods, or lower-achieving sending schools. The opportunity to attend selective boarding schools reduces the tendency of disadvantaged or under-represented students to attend a less selective college by at least one-quarter.