Working Papers
Peer Institution Networks, Test-Optional Admission Policies, and STEM Major Completions. Submitted, 2025.
Abstract: I construct a network of private colleges and universities based on their self-reported peer institutions and detect communities within it using an algorithm from the network science literature. I then estimate the causal effects of test-optional policies by comparing adopters and non-adopters within the same community. Adoption increases reported SAT scores and improves student-body diversity, but decreases the share of graduates majoring in a STEM field; however, 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) graduates with a STEM major.