Data and Code for: HBCU Enrollment and Longer-Term Outcomes

Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s) Ashley Edwards, College Board; Justin Ortagus, University of Florida; Jonathan Smith, Georgia State University; Andria Smythe, Howard University

Version: View help for Version V1

Name	File Type	Size	Last Modified
Code			12/17/2024 09:41:AM
Data			12/17/2024 09:46:AM
README.pdf	application/pdf	333.6 KB	12/17/2024 05:47:AM

Project Citation:

Edwards, Ashley, Ortagus, Justin, Smith, Jonathan, and Smythe, Andria. Data and Code for: HBCU Enrollment and Longer-Term Outcomes. Nashville, TN: American Economic Association [publisher], 2025. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2025-07-01. https://doi.org/10.3886/E201242V1

Project Description

Summary: 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 bachelor's 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.

Funding Sources: Helios Education Foundation; Washington Center for Equitable Growth; Russell Sage Foundation

Scope of Project

Subject Terms: HBCUs; College choice; Returns to college

JEL Classification:
      I20 Education and Research Institutions: General
      I23 Higher Education; Research Institutions
      J15 Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination

Geographic Coverage: USA

Time Period(s): 2004 – 2017

Collection Date(s): 2022 – 2022

Universe: Black High School graduates over 2004-2010.

Data Type(s): administrative records data; aggregate data

Methodology

Data Source: The data from this project come from multiple sources, most of which are confidential. Researchers can contact the data providers for more information on data access and pricing. It can take many months to negotiate data use agreements and gain access to the data.

The primary sources are College Board, National Student Clearinghouse, and TransUnion. Researchers interested in access to the data may visit the following websites:

https://collegeboard.tfaforms.net/69
https://go.studentclearinghouse.org/custom-research
https://www.transunion.com/about-us/contact-us

Unit(s) of Observation: Individual Student

Related Publications

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Published Versions

V1 [2025-07-01]

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