Most Colleges Are Getting Easier For Admission

In a new paper Carolyn Hoxby, Professor of Economics at Stanford demonstates while a few selective colleges have become more difficult to get into over past 5 decades, most colleges are easier to get into. For example, since 1955 the number of high school graduates is up 132%, but the number of freshman seats rose by 297%. The trend from 1970  for freshman seats for minimally qualified high school graduates is also up significantly. So all the hype on admissions selectivity applies to a handful of colleges-about 5 to 10 % of the total postsecondary students.

See paper at info@nber.org