Affirmative Action in Higher Education and Future Earnings

Peter Arcidiacono has a paper forthcoming in Econometrica with some intriguing results.
1) Preferential financial aid for blacks increases the rate at which blacks go to college but not their future earnings.
2) Preferential treatment in admissions increases the rate at which blacks attend quality universities but does not increase their future earnings.

The limited ability of affirmative action to increase black earnings probably reflects two facts that apply to all students regardless of race.
1) Students that aren't going to college because of finances probably wouldn't get much out of more education anyway.
2) Within the universe of competitive colleges, there are relatively little gains to going to a better school. (Dale and Krueger)