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College Expansion and Curriculum Choice

Author

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  • Su, Xuejuan

    (University of Alberta, Department of Economics)

  • Kaganovich, Michael

    (Indiana University)

Abstract

This paper analyzes the impact of college enrollment expansion on student academic achievements and labor market outcomes. When public policies promote “access” to college education, colleges adjust their curricula: Non-elite public colleges adopt a less demanding curriculum to accommodate the influx of low-ability students, benefiting them at the expense of middle-ability students. In response to the reduced competitive pressure for middle-ability students, private colleges adopt a more demanding curriculum to better serve their high-ability students, again at the expense of middle-ability students. The model offers an explanation to the observed U-shaped earnings growth profile among college-educated workers in the U.S.

Suggested Citation

  • Su, Xuejuan & Kaganovich, Michael, 2012. "College Expansion and Curriculum Choice," Working Papers 2012-25, University of Alberta, Department of Economics, revised 01 Apr 2015.
    • Handle: RePEc:ris:albaec:2012_025
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    File URL: https://sites.ualberta.ca/~econwps/2012/wp2012-25.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Volker Meier & Ioana Cosmina Schiopu, 2015. "Why Academic Quality in Higher Education Declines," CESifo Working Paper Series 5480, CESifo.
    2. Elise S. Brezis & Joel Hellier, 2013. "Social mobility at the top: Why are elites self-reproducing?," Working Papers 312, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    3. Brezis, Elise S. & Hellier, Joël, 2018. "Social mobility at the top and the higher education system," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 36-54.
    4. Hellier, Joël, 2017. "Stratified higher education,social mobility at the top and efficiency: The case of the French ‘Grandes écoles’," MPRA Paper 76724, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Vincenzo Andrietti & Xuejuan Su, 2019. "Education curriculum and student achievement: theory and evidence," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(1), pages 4-19, January.
    6. Elise S. Brezis, 2018. "Elitism in Higher Education and Inequality: Why Are the Nordic Countries So Special?," Intereconomics: Review of European Economic Policy, Springer;ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics;Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), vol. 53(4), pages 201-208, July.
    7. Elisa S. Brezis & Joel Hellier, 2016. "Social Mobility and Higher-Education Policy," Working Papers 095, "Carlo F. Dondena" Centre for Research on Social Dynamics (DONDENA), Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    curriculum; postsecondary education; enrollment expansion; income distribution;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H44 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Publicly Provided Goods: Mixed Markets
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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