Differences in the College Enrollment Decision Across Race

The gap in college enrollment rates between whites and blacks has remained stable since 1990, despite large increases in tuition and higher average wages for whites. We find the determinants of the enrollment decision differ greatly between whites and blacks, and within race between black males and females, but not between white males and females. These systematic differences require separate enrollment estimations for each race and for blacks each gender. Specifically, responses to changes in family income, parents’ education, and school quality are vastly different across race-gender groups.