Access to 4-Year Public Colleges and Degree Completion
研究利用佐治亚州四年制公立大学的SAT分数门槛，发现进入四年制大学显著提高了原本可能上社区大学的低技能学生的学士学位完成率，暗示绝对大学质量比匹配质量更重要。
Does access to 4-year colleges affect degree completion for students who would otherwise attend 2-year colleges? Admission to Georgia’s 4-year public sector requires minimum SAT scores. Regression discontinuity estimates show that access to this sector increases 4-year college enrollment and college quality, largely by diverting students from 2-year colleges. Access substantially increases bachelor’s degree completion rates for these relatively low-skilled students. SAT retaking behavior suggests students value access to 4-year public colleges, though perhaps less than they should. Our results imply that absolute college quality matters more than match quality, and they suggest potential unintended consequences of free community college proposals.