Students choosing colleges: Understanding the matriculation decision at a highly selective private institution

► Little empirical evidence exists on the factors affecting the matriculation decision of students admitted to highly selective colleges and universities. ► We provide empirical evidence on the factors affecting matriculation to Williams College, on of the nations most highly selective colleges. ► We find that-conditional on the student applying to and being accepted by Williams-applicant quality as measured by standardized tests, high school GPA and the like, the net price a particular student faces (the sticker price minus institutional financial aid), the applicant's race and geographic origin, plus the student's artistic, athletic and academic interests, are strong predictors of whether or not the student will matriculate.