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Postsecondary Schooling and Parental Resources: Evidence from the PSID and HRS

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  • Steven J. Haider

    (Department of Economics Michigan State University East Lansing, MI 48824 Author email: haider@msu.edu)

  • Kathleen McGarry

    (Department of Economics University of California,Los Angeles, and NBER Los Angeles, CA 90095-1477 Author email: mcgarry@ucla.edu)

Abstract

We examine the association between young adult postsecondary schooling and parental financial resources using two datasets that contain high-quality data on parental resources: the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) and the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). We find the association to be pervasive—it exists for income and wealth, it extends far up the income and wealth distributions, it remains even after we control for a host of other characteristics, and it continues beyond simply beginning postsecondary schooling to completing a four-year degree. Using the Transition to Adulthood supplement to the PSID, we also find that financial resources strongly affect postsecondary schooling for all levels of high school achievement, and particularly for those at the highest level.

Suggested Citation

  • Steven J. Haider & Kathleen McGarry, 2018. "Postsecondary Schooling and Parental Resources: Evidence from the PSID and HRS," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 13(1), pages 72-96, Winter.
    • Handle: RePEc:tpr:edfpol:v:13:y:2018:i:1:p:72-96
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    Cited by:

    1. Steven J. Haider & Kathleen McGarry, 2018. "Parental Investments in College and Later Cash Transfers," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 55(5), pages 1705-1725, October.
    2. Phillip B. Levine & Dubravka Ritter, 2022. "The Racial Wealth Gap, Financial Aid, and College Access," NBER Working Papers 30490, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Bradley L. Hardy & Dave E. Marcotte, 2022. "Ties that bind? Family income dynamics and children’s post-secondary enrollment and persistence," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 279-303, March.

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