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  5. The Impact of Letter Grades on Student Course Selection and Major Choice: Evidence from a Regression-Discontinuity Design

The Impact of Letter Grades on Student Course Selection and Major Choice: Evidence from a Regression-Discontinuity Design

File(s)
WP142.pdf (1.11 MB)
Permanent Link(s)
https://hdl.handle.net/1813/74787
Collections
Cornell Higher Education Research Institute (CHERI)
ILR Working Papers
Author
Main, Joyce
Ost, Ben
Abstract

This research examines the effect of undergraduate course letter grades on future course selection and major choice. Using a Regression-Discontinuity design, we exploit the fact that the probability of earning a particular letter grade jumps discontinuously around letter grade cutoffs. This variation in letter grades allows us to isolate the impact of letter grades on major choice and course selection. We collect original numerical scores for 65 introductory courses across 6 fields and merge this with administrative data including student-level characteristics and transcripts. Since grading cutoffs exist throughout the distribution of scores, we are able to estimate local treatment effects at a variety of localities to examine the distribution of treatment effects. Contrary to the findings of the previous literature, we find no evidence that students respond to their letter grades in terms of course or major choices.

Date Issued
2013-01-01
Keywords
higher education
•
course selection
•
letter grades
•
major choice
Rights
Required Publisher Statement: Published by the Cornell Higher Education Research Institute, ILR School, Cornell University.
Type
article

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