Minorities prefer colleges with a large proportion of same race students and where same race students from their high school have succeededn the past.

Access to higher education begins with a student's decision whether
and where to apply to college.    This paper examines racial and ethnic
differences in college application behavior of high school graduates,
using two recent graduation cohorts from Texas.  

The paper considers racial and ethnic differences in the probability of applying to college,
controlling for a student's college readiness, high school quality,
certainty of college admissions, and high school fixed effects.  

The paper then investigate racial and ethnic differences in the choice of where
to apply, enhancing the typical model of college matching by
considering the social setting and high school feeder patterns of
state universities.  

The researchers find that racial and ethnic gaps in
application rates, particularly for Hispanic students, are not
explained by differential levels of college readiness, high school
quality, or information regarding college admission processes.    

When applying to college, minorities are influenced by more than just
matching their academic ability to the institution, and prefer
institutions with a large proportion of same race students and
campuses where same race students from their high school have been
successful in the past.