Higher Education.

The NBER s Working Group on Higher Education, directed by Charles T. Clotfelter of Duke University, met in Cambridge on May 10 to discuss these papers:

Charles T. Clotfelter and Jacob L. Vigdor, Duke University, "Retaking the SAT"

Discussant: Christopher Avery, Harvard University

1. Abigail Payne, University of Illinois, "The Impact of State Governance Structures on Research Productivity at Public Universities"

Discussant: Michael Rothschild, NBER and Princeton University Orley C. Ashenfelter, NBER and Princeton University, and David Card, NBER and University of California, Berkeley, "How Did the Elimination of Mandatory Retirement Affect Faculty Retirement?"

Discussant: Ronald G. Ehrenberg, NBER and Cornell University

Peter Arcidiacono, Duke University, "Affirmative Action in Higher Education: How do Admission and Financial Aid Rules Affect Future Earnings?""

Discussant: Jill Constantine, Williams College

Sarah Turner, University of Virginia, and John Bound, NBER and University of Michigan, "Closing. the Gap or Widening the Divide: The Effects of the G.I. Bill and World War II on the Educational Outcomes of Black Americans"

Discussant: Susan Dynarski. NBER and MIT

Jennifer Ma, TIAA-CREF Institute, "The Differential Impact of College Cost on the Enrollment of Students from the Different Socioeconomic Backgrounds"

Discussant: Bruce Sacerdote, NBER and Dartmouth College

Clotfelter and Vigdor analyze a college applicant's decision to retake the SAT. Nationwide, roughly half the college applicants take the test more than once; among applicants to selective institutions, the frequency of retaking is significantly higher. This analysis uses data on applicants to three selective universities and a numerical simulation in which the process of receiving draws from a distribution of possible test scores is likened to an optimal search problem. The authors show that the most common test score ranking policy, which focuses on the highest of all submitted scores, provides large incentives to retake the test, since applicants always expect to receive positive benefits upon retaking. Current policy places certain applicants at a disadvantage: those with high costs of taking the test, low values attached to college admission, or "pessimistic" prior beliefs regarding their own ability. These disadvantaged applicants are disproportionately likely to come from low-income African-American fam ilies.

Payne examines the role of state governing boards on...