Racial and income-based affirmative action in higher education admissions: lessons from the Brazilian experience

Abstract: This survey article provides insights regarding the future of affirmative action by analyzing the implementation methods and the empirical evidence on the use of placement quotas in the Brazilian higher education system. All federal universities have required income and racial-based quotas in Brazil since 2012. Affirmative action in federal universities is uniformly applied across the country, which makes evaluating its effects particularly valuable. Affirmative action improves the outcomes of targeted students. Specifically, race-based quotas raise the share of black students in federal universities, an effect not observed with income-based quotas alone. Affirmative action has downstream positive consequences for labor market outcomes. The results suggest that income and race-based quotas beneficiaries experience substantial long-term welfare benefits. There is no evidence of mismatching or negative consequences for targeted students' peers.