Would the Elimination of Affirmative Action Affect Highly Qualified Minority Applicants? Evidence from California and Texas

44 Pages Posted: 25 Mar 2004 Last revised: 30 Oct 2022

See all articles by David Card

David Card

University of California, Berkeley - Department of Economics; Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA); National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Alan B. Krueger

Princeton University - Industrial Relations Section; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Date Written: March 2004

Abstract

Between 1996 and 1998 California and Texas eliminated the use of affirmative action in college and university admissions. At the states' elite public universities admission rates of black and Hispanic students fell by 30-50 percent and minority representation in the entering freshman classes declined. In this paper we ask whether the elimination of affirmative action caused any change in the college application behavior of minority students in the two states. A particular concern is that highly qualified minorities - who were not directly affected by the policy change - would be dissuaded from applying to elite public schools, either because of the decline in campus diversity or because of uncertainty about their admission prospects. We use information from SAT-takers in the two states to compare the fractions of minority students who sent their test scores to selective state institutions before and after the elimination of affirmative action. We find no change in the SAT-sending behavior of highly qualified black or Hispanic students in either state.

Suggested Citation

Card, David E. and Krueger, Alan B., Would the Elimination of Affirmative Action Affect Highly Qualified Minority Applicants? Evidence from California and Texas (March 2004). NBER Working Paper No. w10366, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=516707

David E. Card (Contact Author)

University of California, Berkeley - Department of Economics ( email )

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Alan B. Krueger

Princeton University - Industrial Relations Section ( email )

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National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

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IZA Institute of Labor Economics

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