Many have called for improved alignment between high school graduation and college admission requirements. However, few have empirically examined the extent to which courses needed for college admission are not offered by high schools, which I call underalignment. Using high school-level data from the Office for Civil Rights, I examined high…

Recent studies have revealed how large shares of college-ready students "undermatch", or enroll in colleges with less competitive admissions processes than they are eligible to attend. Undermatch sits at the nexus of both college access and completion agendas, as undermatching to a less selective institution results in a decreased…