How Effective Are Colleges in Educating a Diverse Student Body? Evidence from West Point

We develop an assessment strategy that uses matching algorithms to compare the outcomes of minority and majority college students who have comparable qualifications at entry. We implement this strategy through use of data from the United States Military Academy at West Point. We find that minority and majority students at West Point have similar graduation rates. Moreover, there are no differences in early career outcomes between minority and majority graduates. There is, however, an achievement gap between black and white students but not between Hispanic and white students. Finally, a 10-month program offered by West Point’s preparatory school substantially improves the college readiness of minority students.