David Deming and John Friedman on Highly Selective College Admissions

In the wake of the Supreme Court decision on affirmative action, selective colleges, and their admissions practices, have received a lot of scrutiny. Does going to a highly selective college affect long-term outcomes? How much preference are legacy applicants given? To what extent does socioeconomic background influence chances of admission? And how can highly selective colleges improve social mobility and diversify the American elite? In a new paper, Diversifying Society’s Leaders? The Determinants and Causal Effects of Admission to Highly Selective Private Colleges, Raj Chetty, David Deming, and John Friedman consider these questions and many others. The paper is full of interesting findings, so on this episode of The Report Card, two of the paper's authors, David Deming and John Friedman, join Nat to break it down. David Deming is the Academic Dean and Isabelle and Scott Black Professor of Political Economy at the Harvard Kennedy School. John Friedman is the Briger Family Distinguished Professor of Economics and International and Public Affairs and the Economics Department Chair at Brown University. He is also a founding co-director of Opportunity Insights at Harvard UniversityShow Notes:Diversifying Society’s Leaders? The Determinants and Causal Effects of Admission to Highly Selective Private CollegesStudy of Elite College Admissions Data Suggests Being Very Rich Is Its Own QualificationThe Future of Highly Selective College AdmissionsForked LightningOptimal Gerrymandering in a Competitive EnvironmentThe Lengthening of ChildhoodIn the Salary Race, Engineers Sprint but English Majors EndureGetting In