The impact of attending a more selective college on future income

There have been many debates regarding legacy preferences, recruited athletes, and affirmative action in the U.S. college admission system. These issues hinge upon the premise that being accepted into a more selective institution would result in higher future earnings for graduates. We hypothesized that graduating from a more selective college could increase a student’s future earnings by providing students with more learning resources, connections, and opportunities. If this is the case, then we expected there to be a significant positive correlation between college selectivity and future earnings even after accounting for selection bias, as more selective schools tend to admit students who already demonstrate characteristics correlated with future success. We used weighted linear regressions to determine if college selectivity is a significant indicator of future income based on institutional level data from students entering college in 2001. Before controlling for measurable student characteristics before enrollment, attending a more selective college appeared to have a significant positive effect on future income. However, when we adjusted for measurable student characteristics such as SAT scores, race, gender, major choice, and parental income, the selectivity of the college attended became statistically insignificant. Thus, attending a selective school may not have a significant effect on the median predicted income of students, meaning that programs influencing college admissions, like affirmative action, may not have significant effects of future incomes.