Social Networks and College Choice

Sean C. Lewis-Faupel, University of Wisconsin-Madison

College attendance is an important life decision that occurs during a time when social influences are particularly strong. I begin by attempting to empirically quantify the impact of social networks, specifically the choices made by friends of an individual, on the college attendance decision. An instrumental variables approach is used to deal with the potential endogeneity of friendship networks. I proceed by proposing a formal model of the process by which social networks form prior to college decisions and the role these networks play in the ensuing application and enrollment choices.