Title: Digital Redlining in College Recruitment: Location and College Search Results
By Lincoln Quillian, Chair and Professor of Sociology, Gordon S. Fulcher Professor of Decision-Making, and IPR Fellow
Abstract: Many students begin their college search online, yet the information they encounter is not uniform. Search results are personalized based on users’ locations and other digital trace data, potentially shaping access to educational opportunities. Quillian and his colleagues examine how the socioeconomic characteristics of the ZIP code from which a search originates influence the college information returned by search engines. Drawing on a study that collects Google search results for the term “colleges,” systematically varying browser parameters to simulate searches originating from different ZIP codes, the researchers find that ZIP code income is a strong predictor of the types of institutions displayed. Searches from lower-income ZIP codes disproportionately feature colleges with lower completion rates, lower postgraduate earnings, higher student loan default rates, and lower levels of intergenerational income mobility than those from more affluent areas. The authors explore potential mechanisms underlying these disparities and assess differences between organic and sponsored search results.
This event is part of the Fay Lomax Cook Winter 2026 Colloquium Series, where our researchers from around the University share their latest policy-relevant research.
Please note all colloquia this quarter will be held in-person only.