Working Papers
Peer Institution Networks, Test-Optional Admission Policies, and STEM Major Completions. Submitted, 2025.
Abstract: To investigate the heterogeneous impacts of test-optional policies, I construct a network of private colleges based on their self-reported peer institutions and detect communities within it using a network science algorithm. I then estimate treatment effects by comparing adopters and non-adopters within the same community. Overall, adoption increases reported SAT scores but decreases the share of bachelor’s degree completions in STEM, consistent with mismatch. Effects vary by community; at the most selective liberal arts colleges, policy adoption causes an 8 (23) percent decline in the share of all (under-represented minority) bachelor’s completions with a STEM major.