State-Level Common Application Policies and College Enrollment

Abstract Prospective college students—particularly students of color and those from low-income families—face a myriad of challenges applying to and enrolling in college, including constraints on information, financial aid, and academic preparation. Within the college search process alone, the number, diversity, and complexity of applications that students must complete represent substantial barriers to application and matriculation. A state-level common application seeks to reduce administrative barriers by allowing students to complete a single application to apply to multiple institutions. Using a difference-in-difference design that is robust to variation in treatment timing, we provide the first evidence on state-level enrollment impacts of these common applications. Despite the ongoing development and adoption of state common applications, we find no positive or negative effects on full-time equivalent enrollment in public higher education and show that the format of the common application (paper/online) does not matter. Rather, like strategies considered in other works, common applications may be most useful as a complement to more robust access and enrollment strategies. These findings should inform policy makers and serve as a foundation for future work examining the impacts of common applications on state and student outcomes.