College Affirmative Action Bans and Health Behavior Among Teens in the United States

Eight states, accounting for nearly 30% of U.S. high school students, have banned affirmative action in college admissions. Prior research has demonstrated that these bans have resulted in reduced enrollment and graduation rates for underrepresented minority studies applying to/enrolled in selective colleges. However, the effects on human capital investment prior to college are not well-known. Theory suggests that affirmative action bans may raise risky healthy behaviors in minorities by reducing the likelihood of entering a selective college, thus lowering the returns of safe health behaviors on college admissions as well as the lifetime returns to human capital investment, more generally. They may also reduce health investments by creating perceptions of an unfair playing field, which may diminish aspirations and create despair. On the other hand, banning affirmative action may raise health human capital investments due to newly increased competition for slots at top colleges.

In this study, we examine the effects of academic affirmative action bans on health behaviors among minority high schoolers. Using data from the U.S. Youth Behavior Risk Surveillance System, we estimate differences-in-differences models examining the impacts of affirmative action bans on smoking and alcohol use among underrepresented minority teens. We find that bans resulted in 10-15% increases in both cigarette and alcohol use among underrepresented minority teens. The findings are robust to the inclusion of state-year cigarette and alcohol taxes and state-specific time and hold in event study models. In addition, impacts are only found for Black and Hispanic teens in 10th grade above, the population most likely to be affected by the ban in the short run. We are currently exploring the underlying mechanisms using restricted data from the Monitoring the Future Survey, which contains information on college and labor market plans and attitudes about the future among high school 10th and 12th grade students. Collectively, the results indicate the importance of (real or perceived) educational and economic opportunities on health investments, as well as the spillover effects of education and labor market policy on health. The results also inform ongoing debates about the welfare effects of affirmative action programs in education.