Raj Chetty: The Ivy League Likes Applicants Who Are Rich Or Poor But Not Middle Class
02/24/2021
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From a 2020 paper in the Quarterly Journal of Economics by Raj Chetty on college admissions to Ivy League colleges (plus Stanford, MIT, Chicago, Duke). It features Chetty’s usual immense sample sizes from theoretically secret data sources (IRS, Census, testing agencies, etc.) that nobody had the chutzpah before to think that they could data mine:

Income Segregation and Intergenerational Mobility Across Colleges in the United States

Chetty et al write:

The impacts of income-neutral allocations at the most selective colleges differ from those in the broader population. At Ivy-Plus colleges, the fraction of students from the bottom quintile remains essentially unchanged under income-neutral allocations in absolute terms (rising from 3.8% to 4.4%), but the fraction of students from the middle class (the second, third, and fourth income quintiles) rises sharply, from 27.8% to 37.9%, as shown in Table VI. Figure V, Panel A shows why we see the biggest effects on the representation of the middle class by plotting the parental income distribution of high SAT/ACT (≥1300) scorers alongside the parental income distribution of actual Ivy-Plus enrollees. Children from the bottom-quintile are represented at nearly the same rate as one would expect given their test scores; children from the middle class are underrepresented at these colleges; and those from the top quintile are overrepresented.

Figure V, Panel B presents a more granular depiction of the degree of over/underrepresentation by parental income. It plots the share of students with an SAT/ACT score of 1400—the modal and median test score among actual Ivy-Plus students—who attend an Ivy-Plus college. Rather than a flat line, which would have indicated that 1400-scorers from each parent income bin attend an Ivy-Plus college at the same rate, we observe an asymmetric U-shape, with higher attendance rates in the tails. In particular, 1400-scorers with parents from the top and bottom quintiles attend Ivy-Plus colleges at 2.4 and 1.6 times the rate of middle-quintile children with comparable test scores, respectively. We find similar patterns at other test score levels; see Online Appendix Table XII.

Here is some more data from Chetty that I’ve manipulated.

Here are the highest paid alumni in terms of median income in their early thirties. The top of the list tend to be 6-year pharmaceutical programs so I’m not sure they should be counted as undergrad:

name par_median k_median Kid/Parent median
Saint Louis College Of Pharmacy $92,500 $123,600 133.6%
Albany College Of Pharmacy And Health Sciences $95,800 $115,800 120.9%
MCPHS University $83,300 $112,700 135.3%
University Of The Sciences In Philadelphia $95,300 $102,700 107.8%
Massachusetts Institute Of Technology $141,000 $98,500 69.9%
Babson College $140,500 $95,300 67.8%
Stevens Institute Of Technology $96,000 $92,100 95.9%
University Of Pennsylvania $175,300 $91,800 52.4%
Princeton University $218,100 $90,700 41.6%
SUNY Maritime College $103,800 $90,500 87.2%
Duke University $196,000 $87,500 44.6%
California Maritime Academy $113,100 $85,800 75.9%
Kettering University $100,100 $85,400 85.3%
Worcester Polytechnic Institute $109,500 $85,200 77.8%
Stanford University $172,600 $84,800 49.1%
Massachusetts Maritime Academy $105,300 $84,800 80.5%
Georgetown University $195,100 $84,400 43.3%
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute $114,200 $84,100 73.6%
Rose – Hulman Institute Of Technology $109,500 $83,600 76.3%
California Institute Of Technology $124,500 $83,000 66.7%
Harvey Mudd College $139,800 $82,400 58.9%
Harvard University $174,000 $81,500 46.8%
Colorado School Of Mines $111,500 $81,500 73.1%
Lehigh University $138,300 $81,200 58.7%
Cornell University $143,300 $79,800 55.7%
Bentley University $119,600 $79,800 66.7%
Georgia Institute Of Technology $126,000 $78,900 62.6%
University Of Notre Dame $165,400 $78,800 47.6%
Carnegie Mellon University $134,400 $78,400 58.3%
Villanova University $159,900 $78,300 49.0%
Washington And Lee University $226,700 $78,200 34.5%
Rice University $149,200 $76,700 51.4%
Dartmouth College $185,500 $76,600 41.3%
Yale University $199,700 $76,000 38.1%
Digipen Institute Of Technology $95,200 $76,000 79.8%
Maine Maritime Academy $85,300 $75,900 89.0%
Columbia University In The City Of New York $169,600 $75,300 44.4%
Lafayette College $156,700 $75,300 48.1%
Johns Hopkins University $142,300 $75,000 52.7%
Case Western Reserve University $118,200 $73,400 62.1%
Bryant University $116,900 $73,300 62.7%
Clarkson University $94,600 $73,300 77.5%
Tufts University $187,900 $73,100 38.9%
Vanderbilt University $197,900 $72,800 36.8%
Milwaukee School Of Engineering $91,700 $72,700 79.3%
Northwestern University $168,500 $72,600 43.1%
Santa Clara University $149,900 $72,500 48.4%
Illinois Institute Of Technology $91,600 $72,300 78.9%
College Of The Holy Cross $157,000 $71,900 45.8%
Boston College $168,400 $71,800 42.6%

These are the 50 most Rich Kid Colleges (i.e., parents of students have the highest median annual incomes) sorted by the ratio of kid’s median income during early 30s divided by parents’ median income: e.g., among rich kid colleges, the University of Pennsylvania (with its strong on business) is the only one where the average kid earns over half as much as the average parent.

name par_median k_median Kid/Parent median
University Of Pennsylvania $175,300 $91,800 52.4%
Stanford University $172,600 $84,800 49.1%
Villanova University $159,900 $78,300 49.0%
Lafayette College $156,700 $75,300 48.1%
University Of Notre Dame $165,400 $78,800 47.6%
Harvard University $174,000 $81,500 46.8%
College Of The Holy Cross $157,000 $71,900 45.8%
Duke University $196,000 $87,500 44.6%
Columbia University In The City Of New York $169,600 $75,300 44.4%
University Of Michigan – Ann Arbor $156,100 $68,700 44.0%
Georgetown University $195,100 $84,400 43.3%
Northwestern University $168,500 $72,600 43.1%
Boston College $168,400 $71,800 42.6%
Princeton University $218,100 $90,700 41.6%
Dartmouth College $185,500 $76,600 41.3%
Tufts University $187,900 $73,100 38.9%
Emory University $175,700 $67,800 38.6%
University Of Richmond $180,600 $69,600 38.5%
Pomona College $161,600 $62,000 38.4%
Amherst College $181,300 $69,300 38.2%
Yale University $199,700 $76,000 38.1%
Trinity University $153,200 $58,100 37.9%
Washington University In St. Louis $180,200 $67,500 37.5%
Wake Forest University $191,500 $71,500 37.3%
Vanderbilt University $197,900 $72,800 36.8%
Hamilton College $164,600 $60,300 36.6%
Franklin & Marshall College $162,900 $57,800 35.5%
Washington And Lee University $226,700 $78,200 34.5%
Bowdoin College $177,600 $61,000 34.3%
Colgate University $208,900 $71,500 34.2%
Wesleyan University $165,300 $56,500 34.2%
Williams College $184,000 $62,600 34.0%
Carleton College $152,000 $51,700 34.0%
Trinity College of Hartford, CT $198,000 $67,300 34.0%
Brown University $197,000 $66,900 34.0%
Haverford College $174,200 $57,200 32.8%
Connecticut College $170,500 $55,500 32.6%
Rhodes College $164,400 $52,000 31.6%
Bates College $176,900 $55,900 31.6%
Southern Methodist University $176,400 $55,400 31.4%
Furman University $156,700 $48,100 30.7%
Davidson College $208,500 $60,300 28.9%
Kenyon College $168,400 $48,000 28.5%
Colby College $208,700 $59,200 28.4%
Colorado College $154,600 $43,600 28.2%
Middlebury College $219,600 $61,800 28.1%
Skidmore College $175,400 $47,500 27.1%
University Of The South $174,200 $46,600 26.8%
Yeshiva University $180,100 $46,400 25.8%
Landmark College $179,000 $21,700 12.1%

And here are colleges with parents making six figures that do the worst job of getting the child back close to six figures:

name Parent median income Child median income ratio
Landmark College $179,000 $21,700 12%
Lynn University $149,800 $28,300 19%
School Of The Museum Of Fine Arts $109,600 $25,000 23%
Warren Wilson College $104,100 $23,800 23%
Berklee College Of Music $119,300 $27,400 23%
California Institute Of The Arts $108,700 $25,300 23%
Sarah Lawrence College $146,500 $34,300 23%
School Of The Art Institute Of Chicago $105,800 $25,500 24%
Yeshiva University $180,100 $46,400 26%
Hampshire College $119,300 $31,200 26%
Bard College $117,900 $30,900 26%
Rhode Island School Of Design $142,800 $37,800 26%
Maryland Institute College Of Art $117,100 $31,300 27%
University Of The South $174,200 $46,600 27%
Evergreen State College $100,200 $27,000 27%
Skidmore College $175,400 $47,500 27%
Brigham Young University $119,600 $32,600 27%
Middlebury College $219,600 $61,800 28%
Savannah College Of Art And Design $114,900 $32,400 28%
Colorado College $154,600 $43,600 28%
Colby College $208,700 $59,200 28%
Kenyon College $168,400 $48,000 29%
University Of The Arts $100,600 $28,700 29%
Franciscan University Of Steubenville $102,500 $29,500 29%
Davidson College $208,500 $60,300 29%
Marymount California University $104,900 $31,300 30%
University Of North Carolina School Of The Arts $106,800 $32,000 30%
Reed College $121,900 $36,900 30%
Oberlin College $127,100 $38,900 31%
Reinhardt University $101,500 $31,100 31%
Furman University $156,700 $48,100 31%
Saddleback College $100,600 $31,100 31%
St. John’s College $110,900 $34,500 31%
Samford University $131,000 $40,800 31%
Truett Mcconnell College $103,100 $32,200 31%
Southern Methodist University $176,400 $55,400 31%
Bates College $176,900 $55,900 32%
Rhodes College $164,400 $52,000 32%
Vassar College $145,100 $46,000 32%
Wheaton College of Wheaton, IL $130,900 $41,500 32%
Elon University $146,000 $47,300 32%
Belmont University $116,700 $37,900 32%
Connecticut College $170,500 $55,500 33%
William Peace University $105,900 $34,700 33%
Haverford College $174,200 $57,200 33%
Hollins University $110,700 $36,400 33%
Meredith College $107,700 $35,500 33%
Pitzer College $131,900 $43,500 33%
Saint Mary’s College $130,600 $43,100 33%
College Of Charleston $119,500 $39,900 33%

And here is some more Chetty data: top 100 colleges for patents per capita among his sample of younger alumni:

College Alumni total_patents Patents per cap
California Institute Of Technology 861 280 0.33
Massachusetts Institute Of Technology 3919 1058 0.27
Harvey Mudd College 733 190 0.26
College For Creative Studies (Detroit) 498 123 0.25
Stanford University 6755 1309 0.19
Milwaukee Institute Of Art & Design 640 124 0.19
Carnegie Mellon University 4651 837 0.18
Kettering University 2365 393 0.17
Illinois Institute Of Technology 1082 158 0.15
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 4724 588 0.12
Cooper Union For The Advancement Of Science & Art 788 96 0.12
Rhode Island School Of Design 1421 154 0.11
Clarkson University 2548 274 0.11
Colorado School Of Mines 2433 246 0.10
Rose – Hulman Institute Of Technology 688 64 0.09
Worcester Polytechnic Institute 1810 164 0.09
Dartmouth College 4505 369 0.08
Case Western Reserve University 3304 266 0.08
Michigan Technological University 5039 405 0.08
Lawrence Technological University 1263 89 0.07
Milwaukee School Of Engineering 1755 122 0.07
Georgia Institute Of Technology 9706 666 0.07
Rochester Institute Of Technology 7410 481 0.06
Princeton University 4508 278 0.06
Harvard University 6819 386 0.06
Philadelphia University 2405 129 0.05
Cornell University 13161 664 0.05
University Of California, Berkeley 19443 919 0.05
Lehigh University 4628 216 0.05
Rice University 3066 143 0.05
Letourneau University 1191 50 0.04
University Of Michigan – Ann Arbor 23437 972 0.04
Stevens Institute Of Technology 1344 55 0.04
Wentworth Institute Of Technology 2972 120 0.04
Duke University 7027 269 0.04
Florida Institute Of Technology 1685 62 0.04
University Of Rochester 4321 157 0.04
New Mexico Institute Of Mining & Technology 661 24 0.04
Washington University In St. Louis 6277 227 0.04
California Polytechnic State University 13986 501 0.04
Johns Hopkins University 4247 147 0.03
Alfred University 2044 70 0.03
Savannah College Of Art And Design 4675 160 0.03
North Carolina State University 18534 622 0.03
Yale University 5183 173 0.03
Oregon Institute Of Technology 1354 45 0.03
Brown University 5998 195 0.03
University Of California, San Diego 15391 497 0.03
Pratt Institute 2241 72 0.03
Northeastern University 11878 380 0.03
Northwestern University 8027 256 0.03
New School, The 2691 79 0.03
Iowa State University Of Science & Technology 19581 573 0.03
Purdue University 41852 1167 0.03
University Of Washington System 22467 613 0.03
Columbia University In The City Of New York 5529 149 0.03
Claremont Mckenna College 1175 31 0.03
University Of Cincinnati 23911 619 0.03
Bradley University 5040 128 0.03
University Of Notre Dame 9280 234 0.03
Grinnell College 1479 35 0.02
Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University 21219 499 0.02
Bowdoin College 1836 41 0.02
Pomona College 1555 33 0.02
Art Institute Of Fort Lauderdale 2237 47 0.02
University Of Michigan – Dearborn 3053 64 0.02
University Of Pennsylvania 9653 201 0.02
University Of Evansville 2368 48 0.02
Bucknell University 3759 76 0.02
Lafayette College 2303 46 0.02
Swarthmore College 1408 28 0.02
Christian Brothers University 1058 21 0.02
Western Washington University 10996 218 0.02
Michigan State University 32656 640 0.02
University Of Detroit Mercy 1600 31 0.02
Vanderbilt University 6817 132 0.02
Trinity University 2686 49 0.02
Seattle University 2583 47 0.02
Tufts University 4963 89 0.02
University Of California, Santa Barbara 15825 280 0.02
University Of California, Los Angeles 20325 354 0.02
North Dakota State University – Main Campus – Fargo 8597 149 0.02
University Of Southern California 13653 229 0.02
College Of Wooster 2147 36 0.02
University Of Dayton 7419 123 0.02
University Of Colorado System 31081 513 0.02
Whitman College 1666 27 0.02
Western New England University 2415 39 0.02
Wellesley College 2298 37 0.02
Boston University 15311 246 0.02
Marquette University 7675 123 0.02
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona 9572 151 0.02
Marist College 4248 65 0.02
Brigham Young University 28861 441 0.02
University Of Saint Thomas of Saint Paul, MN 4941 75 0.02
University Of Virginia 13592 206 0.02
Montana State University Bozeman 9221 139 0.02
Gustavus Adolphus College 2854 43 0.02
DePauw University 2537 38 0.01

[Comment at Unz.com]

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