  I use a panel of higher education clearinghouse data to study the centralized
assignment of applicants to Finnish polytechnics. I show that on a yearly
basis, large numbers of top applicants unnecessarily remain unassigned to any
program. There are programs which rejected applicants would find acceptable,
but the assignment mechanism both discourages applicants from applying, and
stops programs from admitting those who do. A mechanism which would admit each
year's most eligible applicants has the potential to substantially reduce
re-applications, thereby shortening the long queues into Finnish higher
education.
