While the importance of access is a prominent topic in the debate on higher education, the conversation on matching a student’s ability to an institution is less present according to Preston Cooper’s article for Forbes. A study by two former U-M economics doctoral students, Rodney Andrews (PhD ‘07, University of Texas at Dallas) and Michael Lovenheim (PhD ’07, Cornell University), and Scott Imberman (Michigan State University) looks at this questions in their NBER working paper entitled “Recruiting and Supporting Low-Income, High-Achieving Students at Flagship Universities.” As the article continues, it includes an analysis on college-student matching by U-M Economics Professor Jeffrey Smith and former U-M economics doctoral student Eleanor Dillon (PhD ’12, Arizona State University). 

This study looks at institutional support and scholarship funding from Texas A&M University and the University of Texas at Austin. While these universities offered similar financial incentives, one was successful while the other fails. Why did this happen? Read the entire article here!

Find out more about Jeff Smith and his work here!