Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/322208 
Year of Publication: 
2025
Series/Report no.: 
UPSE Discussion Paper No. 2025-03
Publisher: 
University of the Philippines, School of Economics (UPSE), Quezon City
Abstract: 
This study examines the consequences of college students pursuing degree programs that do not align with the tracks and strands they selected in senior high school. We utilize a unique dataset that links admissions and enrollment records from the University of the Philippines Diliman to investigate whether this mismatch affects students' academic performance. Using propensity score matching, we do not find evidence of a grade penalty for most degree programs. However, we estimate a significant grade penalty specifically for mismatch in science and engineering programs, where a strong background in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) strand is expected and in fact necessary for academic performance; i.e., students who did not come from the STEM strand tend to perform worse. These findings suggest that the choice of a SHS strand may maLer in some fields more than others, raising important questions about how SHS tracks are offered and how college admissions policies take high school backgrounds into account.
Subjects: 
college performance
K to 12
mismatch
grade penalty
propensity score matching
JEL: 
I21
I23
I28
J24
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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