Learn more about the EdExchange  

Search and Filter

Submit a paper

Not yet affiliated? Have a paper you wish to post? Check out the EdWorkingPapers' scope and FAQs, and then submit your manuscript here.

HBCU Enrollment and Longer-Term Outcomes

Ashley Edwards,
Justin C. Ortagus,
Jonathan Smith,
Andria Smythe

Using data from nearly 1.2 million Black SAT takers, we estimate the impacts of initially enrolling in an Historically Black College and University (HBCU) on educational, economic, and financial outcomes. We control for the college application portfolio and compare students with similar portfolios and levels of interest in HBCUs and non-HBCUs who ultimately make divergent enrollment decisions - often enrolling in a four-year HBCU in lieu of a two-year college or no college. We find that students initially enrolling in HBCUs are 14.6 percentage points more likely to earn a BA degree and have 5 percent higher household income around age 30 than those who do not enroll in an HBCU. Initially enrolling in an HBCU also leads to $12,000 more in outstanding student loans around age 30. We find that some of these results are driven by an increased likelihood of completing a degree from relatively broad-access HBCUs and also relatively high-earning majors (e.g., STEM). We also explore new outcomes, such as credit scores, mortgages, bankruptcy, and neighborhood characteristics around age 30.

Keywords
College Choice; Returns to College, HBCUs; Race
Education level
Post-secondary education
Topics
Pathways to and Through Postsecondary
Tags
Higher education,
Race, ethnicity, and education,
Assessment
Download 12/2023
Document Object Identifier (DOI)
10.26300/4xqa-cs32
EdWorkingPaper suggested citation:
Edwards, Ashley, Justin C. Ortagus, Jonathan Smith, and Andria Smythe. (). HBCU Enrollment and Longer-Term Outcomes. (EdWorkingPaper: -883). Retrieved from Annenberg Institute at Brown University: https://doi.org/10.26300/4xqa-cs32

Machine-readable bibliographic record: RIS, BibTeX