Scandinavian Working Papers in Economics

Working Paper Series,
Research Institute of Industrial Economics

No 1538: Ability, Not Heritage: Why Expanding University Access Often Fails to Narrow Intergenerational Educational Gaps

Thomas Åstebro (), Henrik Hällerfors (), Andreas Bergh () and Joacim Tåg ()
Additional contact information
Thomas Åstebro: HEC Paris, Postal: and Research Institute of Industrial Economics, Box 55665, SE-102 15 Stockholm, Sweden
Henrik Hällerfors: Department of Economics, Uppsala University, Postal: and Research Institute of Industrial Economics, Box 55665, SE-102 15 Stockholm, Sweden
Andreas Bergh: Department of Economics, Lund University, and, Postal: and Research Institute of Industrial Economics, Box 55665, SE-102 15 Stockholm, Sweden
Joacim Tåg: Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN), Postal: Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN), Stockholm, Sweden, and Hanken, Helsinki, Finland,

Abstract: Many countries have established new local colleges to increase access to education for disadvantaged populations. However, many of these expansions have not reduced educational inequality. Drawing on evidence from a large-scale college expansion initiative, we find that increased college availability did not lead to a differential increase in attendance among students from parents with less education. Rather, the expanded access primarily benefited students with marginal academic ability. These results suggest that higher education enrollment is largely determined by inherent scholastic ability and that the expansion of higher education tends to attract students at the upper margin of this ability distribution.

Keywords: Intergenerational correlations; University expansion; Access to education; Higher education

JEL-codes: I23; I24; I28; J24; J62

Language: English

26 pages, October 22, 2025

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