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Estimating the effects of dormitory living on student performance

Author

Listed:
  • Pedro de Araujo

    (Colorado College)

  • James Murray

    (University of Wisconsin - La Crosse)

Abstract

Many large universities require freshman to live in dormitories on the basis that living on campus leads to better classroom performance and lower drop out incidence. Large universities also provide a number of academic services in dormitories such as tutoring and student organizations that encourage an environment condusive to learning. A survey was administered to college students at a large state school to determine what impact dormitory living has on student performance. We use a handful of instrumental variable strategies to account for the possibly endogenous decision to live on campus. We find a robust result across model specifications and estimation techniques that on average, living on campus increases GPA by between 0.19 to 0.97. That is, the estimate for the degree of improvement to student performance caused by living on campus ranges between one-fifth to one full letter grade.

Suggested Citation

  • Pedro de Araujo & James Murray, 2010. "Estimating the effects of dormitory living on student performance," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 30(1), pages 866-878.
    • Handle: RePEc:ebl:ecbull:eb-10-00084
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Amez, Simon & Baert, Stijn, 2021. "Bye, bye, Hotel Mama, bye, bye good grades? Living in a student room and exam results in tertiary education," GLO Discussion Paper Series 885, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    2. Perach, Nitsan & Anily, Shoshana, 2022. "Stable matching of student-groups to dormitories," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 302(1), pages 50-61.
    3. David H. Feldman & Adam D. Jutt & Roswell Miller, 2025. "Graded Walks: How Students' Dorm Locations Affect Grade Performance," Working Papers 174, Economics Department, William & Mary.
    4. Priscilla Rayanne e Silva Noll & Nusa de Almeida Silveira & Matias Noll & Patrícia de Sá Barros, 2016. "High School Students Residing in Educational Public Institutions: Health-Risk Behaviors," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(8), pages 1-14, August.

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    JEL classification:

    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education
    • C2 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables

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