Affirmative action critics argue that race-conscious admissions policies are keeping Asian American enrollment numbers unfairly low because Asian American students are held to higher admissions standards than applicants of any other race or ethnicity. "Selective Bias: Asian Americans, Test Scores, and Holistic Admissions" evaluates the…

"The College Payoff: More Education Doesn't Always Mean More Earnings" explores how lifetime earnings vary by education level, field of study, occupation, industry, gender, race and ethnicity, and location. The lifetime earnings of a full-time full-year worker with a high school diploma are $1.6 million, while workers with an associate's…

In the United States, there is a broadly held presumption that the journey along the pipeline from kindergarten to early career success gradually reveals each child's innate abilities. This presumption is widespread not only in the general public, but among students themselves, who self-identify and identify each other as either academically…

This is the executive summary for the report, "Born to Win, Schooled to Lose: Why Equally Talented Students Don't Get Equal Chances to Be All They Can Be." Throughout their youth, relatively advantaged children enjoy protective and enriched environments that help ensure their success. Meanwhile, equally talented children from poor…

Judging from how much high school students and their parents worry about standardized test scores, one might presume that an SAT or ACT score is the primary factor in college admissions. But a look at the numbers reveals a different reality. A review of SAT and ACT standardized test scores among students in a recent class at the nation's 200 most…

It has gotten increasingly harder for students to work their way through college, especially for low-income students who face steep challenges when combining work and learning. Students from higher-income families tend to benefit as they work fewer hours in jobs directly related to their fields of study. Low-income working college students often…

Over the past half century, the relationship between working and learning has changed in profound ways that have made it more difficult for students, especially students from low-income backgrounds, to attain the right mix of work experience and schooling necessary to qualify for entry-level jobs with a future. The need for formal postsecondary…

The gender wage gap, the disparity in pay between men and women, has narrowed to 81 cents in 2016 from 57 cents on the dollar in 1975. Nevertheless, the gap persists. Over the course of a career, the gender wage gap results in women earning $1 million less than men do. To close this gap, women have relied primarily on the advantages conferred by…

This is the executive summary for the report, "Women Can't Win: Despite Making Educational Gains and Pursuing High-Wage Majors, Women Still Earn Less than Men." Gender wage disparities have always been an intractable problem in the workforce. Women are doing all the right things to close wage disparities--going to college in greater…

Since 1980, the Black college-going rate has nearly doubled, while the Latino college-going rate has more than doubled. As a result, the Black and Latino share of public college enrollment has grown from 15 percent in 1980 to 35 percent in 2015. However, those impressive college-going gains are not being matched by gains in college completion.…

This is the executive summary for the report, "Our Separate & Unequal Public Colleges: How Public Colleges Reinforce White Racial Privilege and Marginalize Black and Latino Students." America's selective public colleges should be among the great equalizers in our society. Funded primarily by taxpayers and carrying a relatively low…

A college education is widely recognized as a gateway to economic opportunity and intergenerational mobility in the United States. Children from households with highly educated parents are three times more likely to get a Bachelor's degree than children from households in which the parents did not attend college. Today, at least some postsecondary…

This report analyzed five databases to get a full picture of the different aspects and traits of Latinos in the workforce: (1) the Current Population Survey (CPS); (2) The American Community Survey (ACS); (3) the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS); (4) the Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS); and (5) the…

This executive summary highlights findings presented in the full report, "Latino Education and Economic Progress: Running Faster but Still Behind." The report reveals that Latinos have a long way to go in achieving educational and economic equality. Latinos' rates of high school graduation are improving, but they are still last compared…

The lockstep march from school to work and then on to retirement no longer applies for a growing share of Americans. Many young adults are launching their careers later, while older adults are working longer. As a result, the education and labor market institutions that were the foundation of a 20th century system are out of sync with the 21st…