Hispanic Peer Effects on Educational Outcomes at Texas Universities

Abstract

I examine the effects of peer ethnic composition on college students' educational outcomes. I use a sample of freshmen cohorts from 1991 to 2002 at Texas universities from the Texas Higher Education Opportunity Project data. This paper identifies the Hispanic peer effects by exploiting the quasi-random variation in the share of Hispanic peers across cohorts and major departments. I find that an increase in the share of Hispanic peers decreases the early dropout rates and increases the college completion rates of Hispanic students. The results also suggest that the total peer effects on college graduation rates are positive for non-STEM, academically less-prepared, and male Hispanic students. This paper presents an academic channel through which the share of Hispanic peers positively affects student outcomes.

Keywords: Peer effects, Ethnicity, Hispanic students, College completion

JEL Classification: I21, I24, J15