Winners and Losers? The Effect of Gaining and Losing Access to Selective Colleges on Education and Labor Market Outcomes. Policy Brief

This paper examines the effects of the Top Ten Percent policy, which guaranteed students in the top ten percent of their high school graduating class admission to Texas Public Universities. As a result of the policy, the composition of the student body changed, particularly at the University of Texas at Austin (UTA). This paper asks, what were the educational and labor market effects of this policy change for both the students who gained access (referred to as "Pulled In" students), and students who lost access to UTA (referred to as "Pushed Out" students). Pulled In students were more likely to attend public universities in Texas and more likely to attend UTA. Pulled in students also were more likely to graduate with a bachelor's degree, and there is some evidence that they had higher earnings. Pushed out students were less likely to attend UTA but were no less likely to attend public colleges and universities in Texas; they also saw no declines in college graduation or earnings.