Solving the Mystery of Matriculation Decisions

By Eric Hoover

Enrollment officials often gripe that their success is determined by the decisions of 17-year-olds. But what, exactly, influences those decisions?

Three researchers probed that question in a new working paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research. The result, "Students Choosing Colleges: Understanding the Matriculation Decision at a Highly Selective Private Institution," is an econometric analysis