Abstract
This paper uses random assignment of students to investigate the impact of study groups and roommates on academic achievement. We find that informal social interaction with roommates has a significant positive impact on academic achievement, while study group peers have no discernible impact, a result driven by group heterogeneity in ability. We also find that lower-ability students benefit from high-ability students but not vice versa.
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© 2015 The President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2015
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