UVA Admissions Requirements as Rent-Seeking

Every year, thousands of students apply for a limited number of spots in the incoming first-year class at The University of Virginia. In the market for college admissions, universities are rent-seekers and prospective students pay economic rent in the form of academic qualifications.

UVA illustrates certain admissions “requirements” by publishing statistics of each class’s median SAT scores and class rank distribution. These standards merely provide a frame of reference for prospective students, since the University evaluates applications holistically. Therefore, the specific activities and qualifications for admission depend on factors beyond academia, to include: legacy status, in-state preference, extracurricular activities, quality and content of essays, and more. This ambiguity incentivizes students to strengthen their application in all areas but defines no particular course of action for admission. As a result, prospective students expend significant resources to distinguish themselves from competing applications without certainty their efforts will pay off.

UVA is an undeniably prestigious institution, aiming to fill their incoming class with the best and brightest students. By withholding precise methods for admission and opting for a holistic approach, the University essentially tells prospective students to “do as much as they can”. This behavior is rent-seeking because the University wants more applications to drive their acceptance rate down. While some other state universities guarantee admission to those graduating in the top 10% of their high school class, UVA makes no promises. These ill-defined admissions standards are a method of rent-seeking, as they increase the quality of applications across the board and improve the University’s reputation.

Prospective students pay “rent” by participating in activities they otherwise would not deem worthwhile. For example, I served as the Historian for my school’s Spanish Honor Society, not out of affection for the club but because I thought the leadership position would strengthen my application to UVA. My family even moved across state lines for in-state admission preference. If I had been rejected from UVA and instead gone to Virginia Tech, I would have deemed all the resources expended wasteful.