@TechReport{iza:izadps:dp17599,
            	author={Basu, Arnab K. and Chau, Nancy H. and Wang, Yudi},
            	title={On Grade Option Choice and Grade Performance Expectation When Instruction Goes Virtual – The Role of Peers at a Distance},
            	year={2025},
	month={Jan},
            	institution={Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)},
            	address={Bonn},
            	type={IZA Discussion Paper},
            	number={17599},
            	url={https://www.iza.org/index.php/publications/dp17599},
	abstract={Campus closures due to COVID19 created uneven student-level exposures to the challenges of home-based virtual learning. Using university administrative data, and exogenous class-level differences in pre-pandemic on-campus housing assignments for parallel trend validation, this paper unpacks student-by-course variations in grade expectations using within-semester switches in grade option choice as a lens. We find causal evidence that distance from campus and internet access affected grade option choices in select student groups (female, non-URM, non-STEM). By tracking access to friends at the student-course level using administrative records, we find that within-class peer support can offset learning challenges even in virtual environments.},
	keywords={satisfactory/unsatisfactory grade option;COVID-19;distance education;learning outcomes},
            }