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Building the Stock of College-Educated Labor

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  • Susan Dynarski

Abstract

Half of college students drop out without completing a degree. This paper establishes a causal link between college costs and degree completion. I use quasi-experimental methodology to analyze two state scholarship programs. The programs increase the share of the exposed population with a college degree by three percentage points, with stronger effects among women. A cost-benefit analysis indicates that the programs are socially efficient at rates of return to schooling as low as 5 percent. Even with the offer of free tuition, many students continue to drop out, suggesting tuition costs are not the only impediment to college completion.

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File URL: http://jhr.uwpress.org/cgi/reprint/43/3/576
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Bibliographic Info

Article provided by University of Wisconsin Press in its journal Journal of Human Resources.

Volume (Year): 43 (2008)
Issue (Month): 3 ()
Pages: 576-610

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Handle: RePEc:uwp:jhriss:v:43:y:2008:i:3:p:576-610

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Web page: http://jhr.uwpress.org/

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