The growth of for-profit colleges has been historically aided by online instruction, and budget crunches at public institutions, circumstances which have resurfaced during the COVID-19 pandemic. We set up and calibrate a general equilibrium model of competition between public and for-profit...

We develop a model of strategic grade determination by universities distinguished by their distributions of student academic abilities. Universities choose grading standards to maximize total wages of graduates. Job placement and wages hinge on a firm's productivity assessment given a student's...